His Psychotic Love
by Crimson Knights
Summary: His love for her is very psychotic and obsessive. He would stay next to her all day, just to keep her away from others. He does not care if he has hurt her physically or emotionally because as long as she is right next to him, everything would be fine. If he cannot have her, then nobody should.
1. Chapter 1: You Mustn't

**Important:  
Before you proceed to read this story, there are a few things I want you to take note about this story:  
**

**1) This story may contain many psychological instances which may affect the readers' emotions. (My first reader, who is my editor, has told me about it and has experience many different types of emotions while reading this. So, read it if you dare to.)  
**

**2) Any familiar or similar events in this story are not related to any real life people or events at all. They are purely coincidental.  
**

**3) Certain parts of this story might be confusing due to some characters' conflicting feelings within themselves.  
**

**4) Some of the characters' personalities are altered to match with the flow of this story.  
**

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**His Psychotic Love**

_He remembered her as his saviour who reached out to him in spite of those bad rumours. He remembered her as someone who slowly sank into darkness day by day. Her mental condition also worsened at each passing day and the only person she could rely on was him. He loved her for so long and his obsession began to grow right after she had decided to take away her own life right before his very own eyes. Just then, he realised that he could not live in this cruel world without her so he vowed to protect her and love her unconditionally until the very end, even if it meant to take away her life with his bare hands as well to soothe her aching heart._

******Disclaimer: I don't own either Gakuen Alice or its characters, except for this story plot.**

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Chapter 1: You Mustn't

"Mikan! Wake up!"

Mikan dug her head deeper into the pillow and mumbled, "A few more minutes..."

"Uh-uh! Your first day of school starts today! Now, get your little butt up!" her mother shouted impatiently.

Mikan wrapped the blanket around her body and scrambled out of bed. Her mother, Yuka Azumi, smiled and walked away. Mikan yawned and immediately after Yuka left, she fell onto the bed and slept again.

'Ring! Ring!'

Mikan jerked awake and shivered continuously. Her handphone rang and without looking at the caller ID, she knew who the caller was. It was 'him'. She immediately got up and ran to washroom.

The ringtone kept playing until the line was cut off. Then, the ringtone played again and again. It seemed to play forever. It never stopped until Mikan was all dressed up for school.

She walked out of the washroom and finally picked up her handphone. Her finger shivered as she hit the pick-up button.

Pressing the handphone against her ears, she spoke softly, "Hello?"

_"I have called you many times but you did not pick up." _

Mikan apologised, "Sorry, I was in the washroom."

_"Next time, please bring your handphone to the washroom, okay?"_

"Yes."

_"Good girl."_

Mikan looked at the clock and said, "I need to hang up now. I have to go to school."

_"Oh, school! Remember to tell me everything which happens in school. Do you understand?" _

"Yes."

_"Before you hang up, remember the golden rule. You mustn't..." _

"I know."

_"You mustn't..." _

"Yes, I remember."

Just then, the line was cut off, leaving Mikan shivering continuously. She slipped her handphone into her pocket and walked out of the room.

When she arrived at the school gate, she was greeted by a few students. She was so excited to start her first day as a middle school student. She went to the bulletin board and scanned through the papers to search for her class.

"Sakura-san?" a voice called out to her and she turned to look back.

Standing behind her was a familiar looking girl but she could not remember who she was.

Instead of ignoring her, Mikan plucked up her courage and greeted, "Hello! Nice to meet you."

The girl opened her violet eyes widely and proclaimed, "Seriously, don't you remember me? I'm Hotaru Imai, your ex-classmate."

"Hotaru Imai? Are you that girl who excelled in almost everything and was labeled as a child prodigy in elementary school?"

Hotaru smiled happily and exclaimed, "Yes, I am but I am not that great though."

"I would never expect someone from the same elementary school as me to attend the same middle school as me. It's a coincidence!" Mikan chirped.

Hotaru blushed and muttered, "Though we are not really friends, is it okay for me to hang out with you? I mean, since both of us know each other, we might as well be friends. What do you think?"

Mikan blushed too and nodded frantically. Hotaru giggled and held Mikan's hand, making Mikan jumped a little. She had never held hands with other people, except for 'him'.

_You mustn't... _

Mikan stopped and pulled her hand away from Hotaru. Hotaru stared at her worriedly.

"What happened? You don't like being held by the hands?" Hotaru queried disappointedly. "Well, I'm sorry. I thought friends should hold hands with one another."

Hotaru cupped her hands together, depicting an example of holdings hands. Feeling guilty, Mikan pursed her lips and brushed off that thought in her head.

"No, it's my fault. So sorry," Mikan interjected as she held Hotaru's hand again. "I was thinking of something and I got worked up a little. Let's assemble in the hall together."

Hotaru looked at her suspiciously and asked softly, "What class are you in? I'm in Class 1C."

"Same as you," Mikan replied with a delighted smile.

"Thank goodness! I'm not alone!"

"Same here, Imai-san."

Both of them smiled and entered the hall together.

-:-:-:-

Mikan opened the front door of her house and entered it.

She gently closed the door and shouted, "Mum, I'm home!"

Yuka came out from the kitchen and smiled, "Mikan, how is your first day of school?"

"Quite interesting. The teachers are nice. The students are also warm and friendly. I like it, Mum," Mikan answered honestly.

Yuka smiled and returned to the kitchen. Mikan hurried back to her room and closed the door behind her. She took out her handphone and opened her contact list. In fact, there was only one contact in her list. It was 'his' contact. Her thumb shivered again. It was as if her thumb did not want to touch the call button.

'Ring! Ring!'

Shocked, Mikan dropped her vibrating phone onto the floor. Her breathing became unstable and she was sweating profusely.

She slowly picked it up and answered it, "Yes? Mikan is speaking."

_"You have taken forty-two seconds to pick up my call. Didn't I tell you to call me once you have reached home?" _

"Yes, I'm sorry."

_"Now, tell me everything about your first day in school." _

"It was great. The people there are nice. There was no lesson today as the teachers were doing some administrative work."

_"And?" _

"And I met my ex-classmate," Mikan said reluctantly and she closed her eyes.

_"Are you two friends?" _

Mikan opened her eyes widely and wanted to protest but no voice came out. There was silence.

_"Mikan, you have promised me before that you mustn't..."_

"I know! We are definitely not friends!" Mikan shouted.

_"Good girl." _

Then, the line was cut off once more. The handphone slipped off from her hand and landed on the floor. Something wet rolled down her cheeks and it entered into her mouth. She tasted saltiness of the liquid.

Her hands touched her cheeks and wiped the liquid off her face.

She stared at her palms and stammered, "Why... Why am I... crying?"

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**Hi guys, thanks for reading '****His Psychotic Love**'. Please review. I don't mind criticisms but they have to be constructive. A simple review is more than welcomed! I wish to get at least _5 reviews_ before continuing to the next chapter. Thank you! :)

**I hope you can also read my other fanfics too! :D  
**


	2. Chapter 2: Chase Away

**His Psychotic Love**

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Chapter 2: Chase Away

Mikan entered into the classroom and took a seat at the front row. Coincidentally enough, Hotaru came in too and was delighted to see Mikan. She hovered to her desk and took a seat next to her.

"Mikan, good morning!" Hotaru greeted enthusiastically.

Mikan looked up and forced a smile.

"Good morning, Hotaru!" Mikan greet back.

"Mikan, are you free after school?"

"Y... Yes," Mikan replied with a curious look on her face. "Why are you asking me that?"

"That's because," Hotaru blushed and whispered. "I want to study with you. I heard that you are good in Art since elementary school so if you want, can I come over to your house so that you can help me?"

"Sure!" Mikan replied. "By the way, you don't have to study for Art. All you have to do is to practice more and you will get it."

Hotaru's mouth opened to form an oval shape. She did not know that Art was not a study subject but was a subject which had to grasp the concept and practice.

-:-:-:-

School ended early for the students and everyone left the school to hang out with their friends. As for Hotaru and Mikan, they went to buy art materials and went straight to Mikan's home.

"Mum, I'm home! My friend will be staying here for a short while. She needs help with Art," Mikan shouted as she walked into the household.

Yuka removed her eyes from the television and tilted her head to see Mikan's friend standing by the door.

"You have finally made a friend, other than 'him'. Good for you, Mikan. What is her name?" Yuka asked as she walked over to Hotaru.

"I'm Hotaru Imai! Nice to meet you, Ma'am," Hotaru said cheerfully as she bowed to Yuka politely.

Yuka laughed at her polite behaviour and said while cupping her cheeks, "You are such a cute and beautiful girl, Imai-san. It's a pity that you are friends with my daughter. Mikan is a shy and lazy person."

"Mum!" Mikan interjected while blushing furiously.

Hotaru giggled, "Of course, I know."

Mikan was taken back and cried while facing Hotaru, "Not you too, Hotaru!"

The three of them laughed and then, Mikan took Hotaru to her room. As soon as Mikan entered the room, she spread the curtains and the whole room turned dark. Feeling a little uncomfortable, Hotaru frowned at Mikan.

"Why did you do that? Sunlight will be blocked if you do," Hotaru snorted while crossing her arms.

Without saying a word, Mikan walked over to the door and locked it.

"Mi... kan..." Hotaru stammered. "Wh... What are y... you doing?"

There was no reply and suddenly the lights turned on. Mikan smiled and walked over to the table.

"Nothing. Let's start practicing the basic Art skills first," Mikan said enthusiastically as if nothing had happened.

Hotaru raised her eyebrows and nodded. She sat next to Mikan and started sketching a bottle. After sketching, she stole a glance at Mikan's drawing paper and gasped. Mikan had just drawn an anime character and it happened to be her favourite anime character too.

"Mikan! Are you drawing 'Hoshino Utau' from 'Shugo Chara'?" Hotaru asked excitedly.

Mikan stopped drawing and answered, "Yes, I am but I just can't draw like Peach-Pit. Wait, do you happen to watch Shugo Chara as well?"

"Of course!"

"Oh my gosh! Seriously? That anime is good, right? You should read the manga. It's more interesting."

"I think the anime is more interesting," Hotaru protested.

Mikan pouted and mumbled, "The manga is way nicer than the anime."

Hotaru did the same and mumbled too, "No, no. The anime is better."

Both of them glared at each other until they broke into laughter. Mikan took Hotaru's drawing and commented on her drawing. It was quite well-drawn but the proportion was a little out. Hotaru was not convinced by her drawing so she began drawing it all over again. As for Mikan, she proceeded in drawing other anime characters.

After an hour, they got bored and they stopped drawing. To get themselves entertained, Mikan took out her manga collections and figurines and showed Hotaru. Surprisingly, Hotaru was an anime and a manga lover. They took pictures of the figurines and even send some anime wallpapers to each other via Bluetooth. They really enjoyed themselves until...

'Ring! Ring!'

Mikan stopped what she was doing. Regardless how long her handphone had vibrate in her hands, she just sat there and shivered.

Hotaru stopped too and looked at Mikan and her handphone. She could not help but wondered why she was behaving like this. It was as if she was afraid of someone. Someone who was calling her...

"Hello? This is Mikan Sakura..."

_"Mikan, what took you so long to answer my call?"_

"I'm sorry."

_"Have you reached home?"_

Mikan hesitated for awhile and then spoke, "Yes."

_"Then, why didn't you call me?"_

"I'm sorry."

_"Didn't I tell you to call me once you..."_

"I'm sorry."

_"Mikan, I am coming over." _

Mikan gasped and looked around desperately. Sweat came pouring down from her forehead. Even Hotaru became worried just by looking at her face.

"No, don't!"

_"I'm coming over..." _

"No!" Mikan screamed louder than before and quickly stood up.

She ran to the window and pulled the curtains aside. She looked around frantically and quickly pulled them back.

Just when she was about to lean against the door, the door opened. Mikan shook her head and let out a deafening scream. A scream that frightened Hotaru.

"Mikan, he has come to see you," Yuka said as she opened the door wide enough to reveal a young boy in a wheelchair.

Mikan stopped and panted heavily. She fell on her knees and kept shivering.

"Good evening, Mikan," the boy greeted and smiled sweetly. "I was wondering why there is an extra pair of shoes in the foyer."

Mikan stammered, "Na... Na... Natsume..."

Yuka left the room and closed the door. Hotaru looked at that boy and quickly stood up.

She stuck up her hands right in front of him and greeted politely, "Hello, I'm Mikan's friend, Hotaru Imai."

The boy kept smiling. However, that smile looked creepy to Hotaru. Feeling awkward, Hotaru withdrew her hand and kept it behind her back.

"Hey Mikan, let's play with the figurines!" that boy suggested happily, ignoring Hotaru's presence.

Mikan nodded hesitantly and went to take out more of her figurines and soft toys. The boy rolled his wheelchair over to Mikan's side while Hotaru sat on their opposite side.

The boy picked up a doll and smiled at it. He began fiddling with it like using his fingers to comb its hair. Mikan and Hotaru just stared at him.

"Are you Mikan's ex-classmate?" the boy asked which made Hotaru jumped.

"Yes, I am," she replied.

"Do you know why these figurines have movable joints?" he continued asking Hotaru.

She shook her head and shrugged.

"Then, do you know why I like these figurines?"

"No, I don't know."

"That is because," he smirked and continued his little game with her. "I love naming them."

Hotaru was puzzled by the fact that this boy liked dolls so much that he loved giving names to them. She began to be crept out by his weird taste in toys. She looked at Mikan who was looking down all these while. Mikan did not smile like she did a moment ago before this boy came in. From here, she could deduce that there was something fishy going on between the two of them.

"Hey, this doll will be called Hotaru Imai!" that boy shouted merrily as he pointed at a pretty doll with golden hair.

Hotaru shuddered. She felt something bad was going to happen. And it did.

He grabbed that doll by the hair and flung it around while laughing menacingly, "Look at Hotaru Imai! Look at her!"

Mikan looked up and cried, "Natsume! Stop it!"

However, he did not stop. He was flinging vigorously and laughing like a manic. Hotaru narrowed her eyes at him but she kept silent. In fact, she was shivering too. She felt fear began to overwhelm her but she told herself that she had to keep her cool with this childish boy.

Mikan had no choice but to grab onto him and shouted at him, "Stop it! You are scaring her!"

That boy stopped and looked at Mikan. He gave her a pitiful look and then, looked back at the doll.

He started squeezing the head of the doll and groaned, "If Mikan says so, then I will stop."

Hotaru and Mikan heaved a sigh of relief, thinking that he really did stop. Unfortunately, they were wrong. He pulled the doll apart, removing the head away from the body and sniggered softly. He was in his own world again.

Upon seeing this, Mikan was on a verge of tears and muttered, "I'm sorry, Hotaru."

Hotaru was obviously shivering and failed to hear her apology. Her focus was all on that boy. Her attention was all on him and the doll. It seemed like she was sucked into his world. His world was a very psychotic world.

As she saw him tearing the doll apart, she felt herself tearing apart too. Not physically, but mentally. His laughter kept echoing in her mind and it just kept replaying and replaying.

"Ah! Hotaru Imai's body is so ugly. Look at her arms and legs! She does not have them anymore!" he snickered as he waved the headless, armless and legless doll in the air.

"Hotaru, I'm sorry!" Mikan cried even louder.

Hotaru wanted to scream but no voice came out from her mouth. Just then, she had fully understood why those dolls had joints. She had also fully understood why he loved dolls so much.

Hotaru was scared. She was afraid of him. She thought that she was that doll which he was holding onto. She thought that she was being torn apart. She thought that she was being hated. She could not take it any longer. Her world shattered before her very own eyes and something within her snapped.

She covered her tortured face with her shaking hands and finally, she screamed.

She picked up her school bag and ran out of the room. Mikan quickly gave chase and, found Hotaru opening the front door and ran out.

"Hotaru, I'm sorry!" Mikan shouted as she grabbed Hotaru's arm.

Hotaru hung her head low and mumbled, "It's okay. I'm fine. I need to go home now."

Hotaru removed her arm away from Mikan and walked away. Mikan could only see Hotaru's little figure slowly diminished as she walked further away from her.

"It's your fault that she left you."

Mikan jerked and turned around to stare at the pair of crimson eyes which were looking directly into hers.

"Because of you, she snapped," that boy said. "If you hadn't broken the golden rule, she won't behave like this."

"Don't you think you are overdoing it?" Mikan shouted angrily at him.

He looked at her nonchalantly and laughed, "Me? Overdoing it? I'm doing it for you, Mikan. You promised me, didn't you? You promised that you will abide with the golden rule that you mustn't..."

"Stop it!" Mikan interrupted while covering her ears.

"You mustn't," he continued in a serious tone. "You mustn't befriend anyone else, other than me. You belong to me. You owe me your life. You owe me everything. You are the one whom I love the most. You mustn't leave me alone. You are mine."

"Stop!"

"Mikan, you can't break your promise, can you?"

"Hotaru is... is... hurt," Mikan stammered while still covering her ears.

The boy removed her hands from her ears and whispered, "Hotaru Imai is not your friend. She left you. Those who leave you are not your friends. You still have me and that is enough. So be a good girl and forget about Hotaru Imai. You have hurt her. Because of you, she was hurt and left you."

Mikan sobbed and he embraced her. He stroked her hair gently.

"I... hurt Hotaru... I hurt her..."

"Yes, and she will never forgive you."

He smiled as he heard her loud piercing cries echoed throughout the neighbourhood.

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**Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 2. Please review. I don't mind criticisms but they have to be constructive. I wish to get some reviews before continuing to the next chapter. ********A simple review is more than welcomed too!** Reviews will motivate me to work harder, write better and update faster! Thank you! :)

******Next, I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 1. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D**

******Here are the responses:  
**

******- Akigane: _Don't worry. Your questions will be answered in the later parts of the story. :)_  
- Guestr: _Thanks for reviewing! :)  
- _Tristeza Hermosa:_ Thanks! Your review is not disappointing. No reviews are disappointing; they are all very precious to me. Anyway, I don't know if there is actually another story which portrays Natsume as a obsessive-over-Mikan type of person. But I think this story plot is totally different from that story(if there is)... I hope so. :)_  
- spica14: _Yup! You're right! _********Thanks for reviewing! :D**  
- ayaka-hime: _Haha! Thanks! :)_  
- Aki-Hime Kaname: _Okay! Thank you! :D_  
- Devilish Dream: _Initially, I wanted to make Mikan a high school student but I have been writing a few fanfics which take place in high school too. So, I decided to make her a middle school student. Yeah, I didn't really expect to have more than 5 reviews for the first chapter because based on my previous stories, I usually received 1, 3 or 4 reviews. ******By the way, thanks for reviewing. :)**_  
- Prick 'n Improper: _******Thanks for reviewing! :)**_  
- GakuenAliceLover: _Haha! Thanks! "D_  
- Idol. Dream: _Thanks! ;)_  
- lisaOpine: _I'm glad that you like it. Thanks! Well, I honestly like this type of stories too, especially with genres like psychological thriller and suspense. I hope the future chapters will answer most of your questions slowly. :)_  


**********Lastly, ****I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. I am so touched! :'D**

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**************Is it possible to reach above _20 reviews_ this time? I hope I am not asking too much. Thanks! ;)  
**


	3. Chapter 3: Contact

**His Psychotic Love**

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Chapter 3: Contact

Hotaru crouched at the corner of her bedroom and shivered uncontrollably. She had never felt so rejected in her whole life. That sadist had hurt her mentally. She wiped her tears and looked at her art pieces.

"Mikan..." she muttered.

Suddenly, Hotaru opened her eyes widely and said to herself, "Mikan must be hated me as well. That boy... he degraded me in front of her. What should I do?"

She recalled Mikan's tortured face and realised that Mikan was also suffering. Mikan had been suffering way longer and more than her. Hotaru clenched her fists angrily. She knew that the sadist was making Mikan very miserable. No wonder Mikan had no friends in elementary school. That sadist might have chased them away.

Mikan was just like a caged bird. All she needed was to be free.

Hotaru smirked. She wanted revenge and to free Mikan from him. He had no rights over her and he would never will. She decided to play a little game that would prove to him that she was not very easy to be chased away. She could not lose to him.

The following day, Hotaru stepped into the class and found Mikan sitting alone at the front seat. Hotaru took in a deep breath and put on a bright smile.

"Good morning, Mikan!" Hotaru chirped as she sat next to Mikan.

Mikan did not look up but she gave a soft reply, "Good morning."

Hotaru took out her handphone and placed it on Mikan's desk. She showed her an anime wallpaper but she did not respond. However, Hotaru was not going to give up.

"Mikan, do you like it?" she asked.

Mikan nodded silently.

Hotaru smiled and said, "I will send it to you. Will you please turn on your Bluetooth?"

Mikan hesitated for a moment but slowly took out her handphone and placed on the table.

"It's already on," Mikan spoke.

Hotaru sent the wallpaper to her successfully but Mikan did not smile like she did the day before. She guessed that Mikan was still thinking about that incident.

Hotaru kept her handphone and mumbled, "Mikan, I told you, didn't I? I am fine."

"Why?" Mikan asked softly while hiding her face away from Hotaru. "You could have ignored me. Look at what Natsume had done to you. If you come close to me again, you will be hurt even more."

"You didn't hurt me, Mikan. I'm strong and I will not be scared by that Natsume guy. I will prove to him that our friendship is strong and is not easy to break apart."

Mikan turned to look at her and sniffed, "Hotaru, do you hate me?"

"Nope. I like you, Mikan. That is why I will never leave you alone. I don't care about that Natsume guy and whatever tricks he will be using on me. All I want is to be friends with Mikan!"

Hotaru hugged Mikan and Mikan began crying under her arms.

"I also want to be friends with Hotaru..."

"I know and we will be."

-:-:-:-

"For this science project, you will need to form a group of three. Now, please take this time to choose your group members," the science teacher, Misaki, said.

Everyone scrambled out of their seats and began choosing their group members. Mikan and Hotaru formed a group with each other but they needed an extra person to join in. They asked around their classmates if they were interested in joining them. Luckily, a boy agreed to their offer as he had no group yet. They sat together and began introducing themselves.

"Hi, I'm Ruka Nogi. Nice to meet you," the blonde boy said.

"I'm Hotaru Imai and she is Mikan Sakura," Hotaru said as she pointed at both Mikan and herself.

Ruka smiled warmly and took out his handphone.

He typed in a few things and asked, "May I have your contacts? It's pretty easy for us to contact one another for our project purposes."

Hotaru took out her handphone and exchanged her contact with him but Mikan refused to do so.

"I'm sorry. I can't," Mikan muttered.

Hotaru frowned and whispered to her, "Is it because of that Natsume guy?"

Mikan nodded and Hotaru sighed.

"Just ignore him. If he is not happy with it, he can come and find me," Hotaru snorted unhappily as she took Mikan's handphone to exchange contacts with hers and then, with Ruka's.

Mikan stared at her contacts. She felt happy that she had finally had two more new contacts in her list, other than Natsume's. She clutched onto her phone tightly to her chest. She would never think that handphone could be that precious. Before that, handphone was a nightmare to her.

"Th... Thank you," Mikan said with a small but sincere smile.

Upon seeing her smile, Hotaru's face lit up and said excitedly, "I will call you tonight and then, we will chat about animes!"

"You will?" Mikan asked while blushing.

"Of course! I will give you a text too!" Hotaru chirped excited, making Ruka groaned.

"Don't ignore me, girls. You two sounded a little like lesbians," Ruka commented.

"I will text you, if you want," Mikan plucked up her courage to say that but in a rather soft voice.

Ruka blushed and put on a manly voice, "No, I will text you first!"

Hotaru raised her eyebrows at him and teased, "Just admit that you want to be friends with her."

"Fr... Friends?" Mikan repeated Hotaru's words and looked at Ruka with anticipation.

Ruka felt pressured by the two pairs of eyes staring at him and eventually nodded. Mikan blushed again and smiled at her two friends.

Mikan kept her handphone in her pocket and began pondering what to write in her text messages to Hotaru and Ruka, other than just project discussion since they were already friends.

Mikan had completely forgotten about that boy, Natsume.

-:-:-:-

Mikan lay on her bed, reading her storybook until her handphone rang. She immediately stood up and grabbed her handphone. She looked at the caller ID which she had never did before. The caller happened to be Hotaru. Mikan happily answered it and began chatting with her. For once, chatting on the phone with a friend was fun. They chatted for so long until the door knocked.

Yuka came in and stood by the door with a wireless telephone in her hands.

"Mikan, Natsume is on the line," Yuka said as she handed the telephone to Mikan.

Mikan was stunned and became speechless. She reached for the phone and covered the speaker to prevent him from hearing her talking to Hotaru.

"Hotaru, I will call you back later," Mikan said and she immediately cut the line before Hotaru could stop her.

Mikan placed the telephone on her ears and asked bravely, "Yes? Didn't I call you earlier? I told you that I will be busy tonight."

_"Busy with?"_

"My... My project!"

_"You were using the handphone, weren't you?"_

"N... No!"

_"Then, why can't I get through you?"_

"I... I don't know!"

_"I trust you, Mikan. So, don't lie to me."_

Mikan pursed her lips and denied again, "No, I wasn't."

_"Fine then. I am just bored and I feel like coming over now. I am bringing some CDs over. I will be there in a few minutes."_

"But... I am doing a project."

_"I can help you with that if you want. Are you working alone?"_

"N... No..."

_"Whatever it is, I will be coming over."_

'Ding! Dong!'

Mikan gulped. He had already arrived at her house. She cut off the line and ran out from her room. Natsume was in the foyer and slowly rolled his wheelchair towards her. He held up a few CDs and smiled at her.

"Mikan, let's watch them together," he said as he entered into the living room and turned on the television.

Mikan unwillingly sat next to him while Yuka entered into the kitchen to prepare some drinks for him.

"Mikan, while waiting for the video to load, I want to see your handphone."

Mikan was taken aback. She could not show him because she had two new contacts. If he knew about them, she would be doomed.

His hand entered into her bulging pocket and took out her handphone. Shocked, Mikan instinctively tried to snatch it back but was to no avail. He opened her contact list and immediately laughed.

"Hotaru Imai and Ruka Nogi? You actually dared to save their contacts? There is supposed to have my contact only. Mine and only one," he said.

He typed something and then returned it back to her. Mikan quickly snatched it away from him and opened her contact list. To her horror, she only found one contact in it and it was Natsume's contact. The rest were permanently gone. She remembered that Hotaru had just called her so there might have her number in her call log. However, Hotaru's number was no longer being found.

"You lied to me, Mikan. You were using the handphone," Natsume muttered. "As your punishment, you must watch this movie. You must not cover your ears and eyes. Watch every detail of this movie."

"No, I want back their contacts!" Mikan shouted at him.

"Are you being defiant? Just serve your punishment and be quiet."

Before Mikan could retort, she heard a scream coming from the television. She turned around and looked at it. The television showed a picture of a faceless girl and it was Mikan's turn to scream. She covered her eyes but Natsume grabbed her hands and tied them onto the sofa using a rope. Even if she could close her eyes, there was no way that she could escape from the sounds coming from the television.

Mikan closed her eyes and struggled to break free from the rope. She kept trying until her wrists began to bleed. The friction of the rope rubbing against her skin had caused terrible abrasion on them. Unfortunately, that did not deter her from trying to free herself. She kept struggling without stopping to take a breather.

She heard Natsume's sinister laughter. She heard murderous laughter and tortured screams. She heard sounds from ripping. She heard sounds of sobbing. She heard everything coming from the television. Even if she was not looking at the television, a movie had inevitably created in her mind. It was a mental movie which followed the sounds in sync. It was worse than watching the real movie with her eyes. It was just like a mind torture.

She opened her eyes and looked at the television screen. She screamed again and passed out immediately.

What she saw was not that faceless girl but it was a real penknife which was placed right in front of her face.

* * *

**Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 3.  
**

******I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 2. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D**

******Here are the reviewers:  
**

******- fany  
- yuri-chan_  
- _Prick 'n Improper  
- Aki-Hime Kaname  
- Guest  
- ayaka-hime  
- bellward13  
- spica14  
- Akigane  
- Anna The Weird  
- unknow98  
- Devilish Dream  
- Idol. Dream  
- lisaOpine  
- asdfghjklnatsu97  
**

**********Lastly, ****I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)  
**

* * *

**************Here are the common questions which are being asked by most of you or you might be currently thinking right now:  
**

**************1) Does Yuka even know what is going on between Mikan and Natsume?  
**

_Yes, she knows about it. The reason why she didn't do a thing about it will be revealed in Chapter 6._

**2) Was it Mikan who has caused Natsume to be sitting on the wheelchair right now?  
**

_ You are pretty closed to it. This will be revealed in Chapter 6 and 17 too._

**3) What did Natsume mean by saying that Mikan had owed him her life?  
**

_ This will also be revealed in Chapter 6 and 17._

* * *

**Please feel free to ask me any questions. I will try to answer them as far as possible.**

**And don't forget to leave a review! Thanks! :)_  
_**


	4. Chapter 4: Engraved

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 4: Engraved

Mikan looked around and realised that everyone had left the restroom. She purposely chose to be the last one to change into her outdoors attire. She removed her turtleneck jacket and took off her shirt. She wore the clean cotton shirt and put back on the jacket. She also changed to her track pants and immediately left.

"Sakura, are you sick? You don't have to wear a jacket for outdoor activities. You will die from dehydration," Ruka asked worriedly as he happened to walk past her.

Mikan feigned a cold by pretending to sneeze and nodded. Ruka could tell that there was really something wrong with her but he remained quiet about it.

When they arrived at the track field, everyone was already doing their warm ups. The two of them were seriously late. Ruka had his reason as he had a bad stomach ache so the teacher let him go. As for Mikan, she said that she had a cold and was in the restroom blowing her nose until it ran dry. The teacher was not convinced at first but judging by her jacket, the teacher told her to rest at the side of the track field. Who would want to be responsible for someone else's cold if something worse happened?

In fact, Mikan was perspiring under the jacket. She wanted to hide something badly. If others found out about it, she would be a centre of attraction.

When the teacher was not paying attention, Hotaru walked over to Mikan's side and asked worriedly, "Are you all right, Mikan? You look very sick today."

Mikan nodded.

Hotaru sat down and grumbled, "I want to take a rest first. I cannot believe that this teacher made us run ten laps around the field. I'm tired!"

Mikan nodded again.

"Yesterday, I thought you would call me back but you didn't," Hotaru pouted.

"I'm sorry," Mikan apologised in a hoarse voice.

Hotaru tried to recall something and spoke, "If I am not wrong, I heard your mother said that Natsume called you. Why did he call you?"

Mikan shook her head and replied, "Nothing much. He was just bored at home."

"Is he the only child?"

"Yes, he is. He lives next to me so I know him quite well. In fact, we have known each other since elementary school till now."

"Was he from the same elementary school as us?"

"Yes, he used to but he stopped schooling from Grade 5 onwards."

Hotaru went into deeper thoughts. Who would know that the sadist would go to school? He looked like a barbarian to her.

Hotaru asked again, "He stopped schooling, is it because of the inconvenience on the wheelchair?"

Mikan nodded again but her face turned very pale.

"Can we stop talking about him? Let's talk about our project work," Mikan suggested with a weak smile.

Hotaru realised that she had asked too much so she apologised to her. She quietly signaled Ruka to come over to them. Surprisingly, Ruka was glad to do so because he disliked running. He skipped to them and sat next to Mikan.

"Are you trying to ditch with Sakura?" Ruka laughed at Hotaru which made her frown.

"Well, you too!" Hotaru retorted. "Well, Mikan wants to discuss our project together now."

"Now? What if that crazy teacher caught us?" Ruka asked worriedly.

"Just say that you still have a slight tummy ache and he will let you go," she replied. "As for me, I will say that I am babysitting the both of you. He will definitely fall for that."

"Who will fall for what?"

Hotaru stuck up her nose higher and repeated, "That crazy teacher will fall for my excuse."

Ruka mumbled, "Imai..."

"Hotaru Imai, you will run another ten laps for trying to trick me and calling me names!"

Hotaru turned around and saw the crazy teacher just right behind her. She stood up and gaped. Without saying a word, she ran off and did another ten laps obediently.

-:-:-:-

Hotaru walked tiredly into the restroom, grumbling on and on to herself about how evil that teacher was. Furthermore, she was the last one to be released because of those extra ten laps. She opened her locker and took out her uniform. She hurriedly changed into it and slammed the locker shut. Just then, she heard a sound coming from the other side of the lockers. She thought that she was the only one left in the restroom.

She gulped. She had heard of ghosts appearing in girl's restroom and had scared many girls in this school. She shuddered and brushed off that intimidating thought. As she slowly approached to the other side of the lockers, she noticed a familiar girl changing into her uniform.

"Mikan, is that you?" Hotaru called out and walked over to her.

That girl was indeed Mikan. Upon hearing someone called her name, she quickly used her jacket and wrapped herself from her head to her waist.

"Don't come any closer to me," Mikan warned loudly.

Hotaru was taken aback by her words. Refusing to listen to her warnings, she charged forward and flung the jacket away from her.

Hotaru had the greatest shock of her life. She saw cuts all over Mikan's neck and arms. The cuts seemed fresh but were not very deep. On her neck, there were a few heart shapes carved while on her arms, there were words written. On her left arm, it was written 'Natsume's' and on the other arm, it was written 'Property'.

"That Natsume guy did it, didn't he?" Hotaru snapped.

Mikan fell onto her knees and said in between sobs, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Hotaru kneeled down and asked, "Why are you apologising to me? Please answer my previous question."

Mikan covered her face and nodded. Hotaru grabbed the jacket and helped Mikan to put it on.

"You should have told me about it," Hotaru grumbled. "I feel upset and useless when I don't even know what is wrong with you!"

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologising again?"

"Natsume deleted your contact, together with Ruka's. I am sorry."

Hotaru smacked her forehead and muttered under her breath, "I dare you to say sorry again because this is getting a little irritating. It is obviously not your fault and you are apologising for that Natsume guy."

Mikan looked down and spoke, "I'm sorry."

"Stop it. That guy doesn't deserve to have someone apologising on his behalf! He is abusive and sick," Hotaru ranted. "You should just leave him alone."

"I can't!"

"What? Why?"

"That's because," Mikan's voice softened. "It is a very long story."

Hotaru did not want to pry into Mikan's painful memories so she stopped asking her any further.

-:-:-:-

Lessons ended late and Hotaru suggested that they should complete the project by the end of the day. It was all because of the restriction in Mikan's handphone. Ruka did not know anything about that so he just felt weird as to why Hotaru kept insisting on completing the project fast.

They went to Hotaru's house and started on it as soon as possible. Ruka spread a large sheet of paper and began writing on it. Mikan and Hotaru cut out a few pictures and glued them at the side of the paper.

Ruka looked at Mikan and sighed. She definitely looked sick and weak. He still thought that she had a bad cold.

"Sakura, if you are not feeling very well, you can go home. We can do your part for this time only," Ruka said in concern.

Mikan smiled at him and replied, "I'm feeling better. Thank you."

Hotaru looked at Ruka and then back at Mikan. Ruka did not seem to know anything about Mikan's pain and misery yet. She knew that Mikan did not want to go home because of Natsume since he just lived next to her. Then, she got a brilliant idea.

"Mikan, do you want to stay over here for the night?" Hotaru asked.

Mikan looked at Hotaru and nodded desperately. Hotaru cheered and quickly hugged her in response. Upon seeing this, Ruka scowled as he thought he was really seeing two lesbians hugging together.

Ruka groaned, "Stop that, will you? It is disgusting!"

Hotaru let go of Mikan and shouted angrily at him, "What is so disgusting than that sadistic freak? I want to help Mikan and save her from him! You, idiot!"

After saying that, Hotaru immediately covered her mouth as she had realised that she had said too much.

"What are you talking about?" Ruka snorted and crossed his arms. "I knew it. Both of you are hiding something from me all this while. Don't you even consider me as your friend?"

"Yes, we did!" Mikan interjected. "However, I just don't want to say it to anyone else other than Hotaru. I'm sorry."

Ruka bit his lips as he rubbed the back of his forehead and mumbled, "It's okay. It's not like I am going to force you to say it out but I just want to support you as a friend. I will feel kind of useless if my friends don't trust me. That's all. I didn't mean to say that."

"It's okay, Ruka," Mikan assured softly.

Hotaru grunted, "Mikan, I'm sorry too. I should not have said too much. As for Nogi, I am also very sorry. You do not know anything, yet I just snapped at you. It is my entire fault. Guys, I'm sorry!"

Hotaru put her knees together as she bowed down with her head touching the floor.

"It's okay!" Ruka and Mikan answered together, making both of them blushed.

Suddenly, Mikan unzipped her jacket and slowly pulled it down.

Ruka immediately looked away and stuttered in embarrassment, "Sa... Sakura! Wh... What are you doing?"

Hotaru looked up and gaped. What was Mikan trying to do?

Mikan pushed the jacket aside and spoke, "Ruka, look."

"Mikan, don't!" Hotaru shouted.

Ruka slowly turned his head towards Mikan and he saw them. He saw the scars and her glistering sweats all over her neck and arms. Just then, he had fully understood her situation. She was not sick but was hurt. The pain she bore could not be measured just by looking at the scars.

He was sure that those words which were 'engraved' on her body were definitely done by someone who loved her till the extent of abusing her. Not just physically, but also mentally.

* * *

**Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 4.  
**

******I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 3. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D**

******Here are the reviewers:  
**

******- i. Love. food. but. not. you  
- yuri-chan_  
- _Ayaka-hime  
- Anna The Weird  
- Aki-Hime Kaname  
- Prick 'n Improper  
- GakuenAliceLover  
- lisaOpine  
- Akigane  
- Devilish Dream  
- Sairento Kira  
**

**********Lastly, ****I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)**

* * *

**************Don't forget to review this chapter! Hmm... what about _55 reviews_ this time? :D  
**


	5. Chapter 5: Defiant

** His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 5: Defiant

The project ended quite late so Mikan decided to call back home to ask for Yuka's permission to stay over at Hotaru's house. And so, she did.

As soon as the other line picked up, Mikan quickly said, "Mum, I will not be coming home tonight because of my project. I will stay over at Hotaru's house. Is it okay, Mum?"

_"Mikan, you have to go home. I have waited so long for you."_

Mikan became stunned and speechless. The person was not her mother but was someone who sounded very familiar.

She shivered and stammered, "Na... Na... Natsume?"

_"Yes, I am."_

Mikan's eyes widened and asked worriedly, "Why are you at my house? Where is Mum?"

_"Who knows?"_

"Is Mum at home? Answer me! What happened to her?" Mikan shouted with tears forming in her eyes.

_"Who knows, Mikan? You will only know when you return home."_

Mikan cut the line off and ran out of Hotaru's room desperately. Ruka and Hotaru sensed something was not right so they followed behind her.

They basically ran all the way to Mikan's house and opened the front door. The house was dark and it seemed that no one was in there. Mikan walked in and turned on the lights.

"Mum?" Mikan called out.

As they walked into the living room, the smell of alcohol became stronger and stronger. Everywhere was reeked with the smell of alcohol. Just then, Ruka gasped and pointed his shaking finger at a motionless figure lying behind the sofa. Mikan ran towards the person and screamed.

"Mum! It's Mum! No!" Mikan cried loudly as she shook Yuka's petite body frantically.

Ruka checked Yuka's pulse and said, "She is still alive. I think she's just drunk. Look at all the glass bottles around her."

The three of them lifted Yuka up and lay her down on the sofa. Mikan gave Yuka a hug while heaving a sigh of relief. Suddenly, she remembered Natsume. He was supposed to be right here but he was missing.

"Where is that Natsume guy? I thought he is at your house," Hotaru asked while looking around the living room suspiciously.

Ruka shrugged and guessed loudly, "Maybe he left."

Mikan did not say anything but just nodded. She picked up the bottles and threw them into the rubbish bin.

"Mikan, since we have done the project, why don't the three of us go to our school's cultural festival which Misaki-sensei and that crazy teacher kept talking about tomorrow? Anyway, tomorrow is Saturday," Hotaru suggested.

Ruka nodded enthusiastically. Mikan thought for a while and then, nodded too. After that, Hotaru and Ruka left the house while Mikan headed to her room. She turned on the lights and she got another great shock. She saw Natsume sitting next to her bed. She stumbled backwards and fell onto the floor.

"Welcome back, Mikan. I was expecting you here tonight," Natsume said sweetly. "I did not know that your mum is an alcoholic. She said that you will be coming home late so she bought some alcohols to drink and to past time."

"Why didn't you tell me that Mum was drunk?" Mikan asked.

"That is because I want you to come back home," he replied happily. "Mikan, sleep with me tonight. I'm lonely."

Mikan sighed, "You sleep on the bed and I sleep on the floor, okay? Tomorrow I have to leave early for school and will come back quite late."

"No, I want you to sleep on the bed with me. By the way, I have heard your conversation with your project members and you are not going to the festival with them," he snarled.

Mikan looked up at him and was about to shot back until she saw the penknife in his hand. She remained silent and put her bag on her desk before heading to the bathroom.

-:-:-:-

Everywhere in the school was bustling with activities. Students wore their informal clothing and hung out with their friends. Teachers were helping some class organisers to set up food and games stores.

Hotaru stood outside the school gate for quite some time. She also wore her favourite purple dress. Just then, Ruka came running towards her and was panting deeply.

"Sorry, I'm late!" Ruka said in between pants. "Where is Sakura? It's unusual for her to be late."

Hotaru shrugged and replied, "Let's wait for her a little longer. She will eventually turn up."

Half an hour passed and there was no sign of Mikan. Another half an hour passed and yet, Mikan did not show up at all. Ruka had called her many times but no one picked up and because of that, Hotaru began to worry for her. She guessed that Natsume was behind all of this so she decided to go to Mikan's house to check on her.

Hotaru whispered to Ruka, "Nogi, we will go and check on Mikan. I'm afraid..."

"I know. I'm afraid that the boy who abuses her is holding her back. Who knows what would happen to Sakura?" Ruka interrupted worriedly.

Hotaru nodded and they headed towards the direction of Mikan's residence.

Meanwhile, Mikan sitting next to Natsume, drawing some anime characters on a sketchbook. She looked very down and depressed. Even her drawings were filled with unhappiness. On the other hand, Natsume was playing with soft toys. He was snickering and amusing himself by tearing the toys apart till the wools came out.

"Mikan, look at Ruka Nogi's eyes! They dropped off!" Natsume laughed loudly.

"No, I want to go..."

Natsume stopped laughing and glared at Mikan.

He asked in a hostile voice, "What did you just say?"

Mikan covered her mouth in surprise. She had said her inner thoughts a little too loud. She continued to draw, without looking at Natsume who was staring intensely at her.

"What did you just say?" he repeated again.

Mikan bit her lips and frowned. She wanted to be strong but she always failed to be. She looked at her watch and realised she had made Hotaru and Ruka wait for more than an hour. Looking up at Natsume, she stood up and threw her sketchbook aside. Her abrupt actions shocked Natsume.

"What are you doing? Sit back down!" he shouted.

"Natsume! Let me go to this festival for this once! Please!" Mikan begged with tears in her eyes. "I want to go with my friends!"

She had said it. She smiled at her first attempt to defy Natsume. Her eyes widened and laughed at her own success.

"Why are you laughing?" Natsume shouted even louder than before and grabbed her arm. "You cannot leave me! You have no friends, except for me! You only have me! Only me, Mikan!"

"No, I have to go to the festival! Hotaru and Ruka are waiting for me!" Mikan could not stop her laughter as she flung his hand aside.

The thought of being friends with Hotaru and Ruka had given her the strength and courage to say all those things. She was so thankful that they were her friends. She was so grateful...

"Why are you trying to be defiant? Have you forgotten about what happen to you the last time?" his voice echoed throughout the household.

Mikan stopped and her knees trembled continuously.

"Sh... Shut up," her voice quivered. "Hotaru and Ruka are different. They are different. I love them."

"But do they love you like I do?" Natsume's voice softened as he moved towards her and pulled her back to the sofa. "Will they sacrifice their lives for you like I did for you?"

There was complete silence. All they could hear the sounds of the ceiling fan and the flipping of the sketchbook.

"You could not answer me, right?" he rattled on with a small laughter.

Mikan broke into tears. He was right. She could not guarantee that Hotaru and Ruka would love her as a friend. Negative thoughts flooded her mind like large waves crashing together with her emotions.

"Forget them, Mikan. They will never love you. They are just making use of you..."

"No, I want to believe that they would come for me now!" Mikan shrieked as she covered her tear-stained face with her hands. "I want to believe that they are my friends!"

Natsume gritted his teeth with anger. He grabbed her hands and pulled them away from her face. His palm just flew across her face and her head hit against the sofa. She cried out in pain.

Natsume bellowed, "No, they won't come for you at all! They won't..."

'Ding! Dong!'

Natsume stopped talking while Mikan jerked up from her position. They stared at each other for a moment before Mikan ran to the window and tried to see who it was. Her smile reformed back on her face as she saw them. She believed in them and they did come.

Hotaru and Ruka had arrived at her place and quickly entered into the house once Yuka had opened the door for them. They rushed into Mikan's room and swung opened the door. All they saw was Mikan standing next to the window with her hand covering her swollen cheek and Natsume sitting on the sofa with wool all over his head and body.

Mikan ran towards them and hugged Hotaru while saying, "I knew you would come for me. I knew it."

Hotaru tightened her embrace and comforted her, "We are friends, aren't we? And I also knew that Natsume guy forbade you from attending the festival."

Ruka looked at Mikan in relief. He was glad that she was safe. Then, he glared at Natsume. Furthermore, it was their first time seeing each other.

Natsume glared at Ruka too and snorted rudely, "I thought Ruka Nogi is a girl and she is really a girl."

Ruka was fuming with anger by then after hearing that comment. He stomped towards Natsume and grabbed him by his shirt. Natsume was shocked and shuddered for a second.

"Firstly, I'm a male. Secondly, I think you are a spoilt brat," Ruka said angrily but in a polite manner. "Thirdly, I want you to stop destroying Sakura's life."

Natsume pushed Ruka off and shouted, "Shut up, girlie boy! What do you know about me and Mikan? I am just helping and protecting her. I love Mikan more than anyone else. She is mine!"

Hotaru shouted at Natsume, "You are a selfish and sadistic jerk! You are always hurting Mikan. You always make her cry. You abuse her body and mind. So, is that what you called 'love'?"

"You two are outsiders so you don't understand anything at all!" Natsume shrieked as he threw a doll head at Ruka. "Mikan, come here. Don't mix with them. They are corrupting you!"

Hotaru held onto Mikan and said, "Mikan is not joining you to your likings."

Natsume clutched onto his shirt and cried, "Mikan... Don't leave me..."

_Don't leave me..._

_Please..._

_Don't ever think of leaving me alone... _

_I'm scared..._

Mikan let go Hotaru's hand and walked towards Natsume. Ruka quickly grabbed her arm and shook his head in disapproval.

"Don't pity him. Because of you pitying his entire being, he is using you as an advantage," Ruka said.

Upon hearing that, Natsume looked at Mikan with a weak and pitiful smile, and said to Mikan, "No, Mikan. I have never thought of that. Ruka Nogi is just assuming."

Hotaru stepped forward and said loudly, "Mikan, don't pity him!"

Mikan moved backwards and laughed. They were right. She always pitied him. He was so pitiful that she was willing to sacrifice her freedom for him. However, she seemed to forget something but she did not care about that anymore. As long as she had her two friends with her, anything could be solved.

"Why are you laughing again?" Natsume screamed and Mikan jerked.

Why was she laughing? She could not understand it herself either.

Natsume slowly stood up and tried balancing with his two weak and scrawny legs. He staggered towards Mikan and roughly pushed her aside. The three of them had no idea what he was going to do so they just stared at him. They thought he had finally given up of Mikan. How they wished they were right.

Suddenly, Natsume lost his balance and fell onto the floor with hands clutching onto the window ledge. Feeling a little worried, Mikan rushed over to pick him up but he just pushed her away again.

"Don't come near me. I am going to make you regret for your whole entire life," Natsume growled. "I am going to fall down from this building right before your eyes."

Mikan opened her eyes widely and quickly pulled Natsume away from the window ledge. Hotaru and Ruka did the same too. Though the both of them disliked him, they still could not allow him to lose his life simply just like that.

"Let me go, morons!" Natsume shouted at the top of his lungs and he swung his hands roughly.

'Thud!'

Everyone in the room looked at each other, startled by that loud sound. The sound came from below the building. Yuka burst in the room and scanned it. There were no longer four children inside the room. Instead, there were only three of them left in there.

She looked at the children and stammered, "Wh... Where is... Mi... Mikan?"

* * *

**Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 5.  
**

******I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 4. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D**

******Here are the reviewers:  
**

******- yuri-chan  
- Akigane_  
- _XxAoiHoshixX  
- Devilish Dream  
- Vegie- 1526  
- meLOVES'NATSUME  
- jar-of-jam  
- lisaOpine  
- Sairento Kira  
- elesme  
- GakuenAliceLover  
- i. Love. food. but. not. you  
- Brisken  
- Soul. Sister75  
- Anna The Weird  
- Prick 'n Improper  
- Dillusionalpromise  
**

**********Lastly, ****I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)**

* * *

**************Here are the common questions which are being asked by most of you or you might be currently thinking right now:  
**

**************1) Will Natsume change for the better?  
**

_Maybe yes or maybe no. It depends on how you look at it.  
_

**2) Does Ruka know Natsume in the past?  
**

_ Sadly, no. Both of them study in different elementary schools.  
_

**Please feel free to ask me any questions. I will try to answer them as far as possible.**

* * *

**************Is anybody looking forward to Chapter 6? Yes, I am! :D  
**

**************Don't forget to review this chapter! Thanks!  
**


	6. Chapter 6: Bitter Past

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 6: Bitter Past

Hotaru paced impatiently around the waiting area without taking a rest while Ruka sat quiet on a bench, looking on the plain tiled floor most of the time. It had been an hour and yet, there was not a single news about Mikan at all.

Out of the blue, Yuka came and sat next to Ruka quietly. Ruka and Hotaru stared at her and then looked away. They knew Yuka had no news to share either. Yuka remained silent with no tears in her eyes. She kept her composure very well but deep inside, she was in pain.

"The doctor said that Mikan was all right. She just had a head concussion and a broken limp. Otherwise, everything is perfectly fine," Yuka mumbled.

Hotaru stopped pacing and charged towards her angrily while bellowed rudely at her, "Nothing is fine when you don't even know the pain she has been suffering because of that Natsume guy!"

"Stop it, Hotaru!" Ruka interrupted and placed his arm in between the both of them.

Yuka sighed and said, "I know what is going on. I know everything but it cannot be helped."

This time, Ruka snapped, "What do you mean by 'cannot be helped'? Sakura is your daughter, you know!"

Yuka buried her face behind her palms and sobbed, "I want to help but I can't. Mikan is indebted to Natsume-kun."

"What do you mean?" the children asked together.

"She owes him her life and her everything. Natsume-kun just loves her and he is also a very pitiful child. His parents always leave him alone and the only person he can turn to is Mikan," Yuka explained.

"If that guy is pitiful, what about your daughter? She is pitiful as well!" Hotaru screamed and Ruka immediately stepped her foot to lower her voice in the hospital.

Yuka wiped her tears and began, "Actually, it was all started after my ex-husband and I divorced when Mikan was still in elementary school. Mikan received a huge tremor of her life, thinking her father had left us because of her bad studies. So, she started working very hard and managed to obtain a few scholarships within a year. That was also when she met Natsume-kun who happened to be in the same class as her. Natsume-kun was a lonely child so Mikan decided to be his friend and they eventually did became friends. Times were good until Mikan's circle of friends betrayed her. In order not to allow Mikan to succeed in her studies, they plotted quite a few things behind her back. One of which was..."

Yuka paused, not wanting to say too much but Ruka and Hotaru insisted on continuing the story.

So, she had no choice but to continue, "Her so-called friends employed a group of gangsters from a high school and told them to do anything they wanted with Mikan. Luckily, Natsume saved her on time. However, her friends did not stop at all. They sabotaged her and made fun of her until finally, her studies worsened."

"Was that Natsume guy sadistic?" Hotaru asked.

Yuka shook her head and continued, "He used to be a loving and polite boy but he did not have real friends because of his good results then. Mikan was the only person who was willing to open up to him and I guessed he liked her very much to the point where he was willing to sacrifice his life for her."

"Did he really do that?" Ruka queried curiously.

"Yes, and that was how he landed in that wheelchair since that fateful day," Yuka sighed deeply. "After being sabotaged and blackmailed, Mikan's grades dropped and she began to think that her father would not return to her if she did not buck up. She tried her best again but failed terribly. Then, she chose to take her life away by jumping off the school building right in front of her so-called friends. When she jumped, she thought she would die instantly but somehow she was being pulled up by someone. However, that someone lost his balance and fell instead of her. He survived but he lost the use of his legs. And that boy is Natsume Hyuuga. From that day onwards, Mikan took care of him and he even shifted to live next to her. The thought of losing her was unbearable for him as when he saw her jumping off that school building, all he could think of was to prevent himself from losing her by his side. After losing his ability to walk, he made use of this excuse that he was handicapped because of her to get her to remain by his side."

"So, the sight of losing Mikan made him twisted like he is now?" Hotaru muttered to herself while scratching her head. "Either way, I still think that Natsume guy overdid it, even though he just wanted to be with her. He cannot be selfish. Mikan has suffered under him too."

"The other reason why he forbade her for having friends other than him is because he doesn't want the same thing to happen to her again," Yuka defended.

Hotaru glared at Yuka and grunted, "I am going to see Mikan now. I don't care what happened to that sadist because all I know he is abusing her everyday. If he loves her, he should respect her and her body as well. He is just twisted. He is a psychotic person. He is not right in his mind at all!"

Yuka grabbed onto Hotaru and said calmly, "The doctor said no visiting is allowed for now until he informs us."

Ruka placed his hand on Hotaru's back and shook his head. Hotaru's tears came flowing out and sobbed. She was just being too emotional for her friend. She began to detest Yuka. Where in the world would a mother be so calm and pretend that nothing happened to her own child? That was ridiculous.

-:-:-:-

Natsume came out of the restroom after staring at the mirror for a very long time. He was stunned and was shivering continuously since he saw her bloodied lifeless figure at the bottom of the building. He was scared and was afraid to lose her. He wished no one had stopped him and allowed him to plunge down the building.

He moved towards the waiting room and he heard a conversation in there. He stopped and hid behind the wall, trying to listen to the conversation made by Yuka, Ruka and Hotaru.

"Since you have said that Mikan owed him her life, do you think this time she has already been freed? I mean, she nearly lost her life while saving him," he heard Ruka's voice speaking rather softly.

Natsume was taken aback by his words. His hands dug into his skin and he began shaking violently in his wheelchair.

"Nogi is right. So now, nobody is owing each other anything. It's fair," this time was Hotaru speaking.

Natsume shook his head with his eyes opened widely. His emotions were running wild. He did not want to leave Mikan. He did not want her to leave him alone. He paused abruptly and waited for someone to protest against them. He knew Yuka would protest since Mikan was her daughter. Yuka would understand his and her conditions.

Finally, Yuka spoke with a soft laughter, "I hope so but you know..."

Natsume snapped even before Yuka finished her sentence. He rolled his wheelchair backwards and made a turn towards the direction of Mikan's ward. He slid open the door and he slowly moved inside while panting heavily. He saw wires sticking into Mikan's skin and different coloured fluids dripping into her body through the tubings.

"Mikan," he said as he advanced towards the bed and held onto her cold hand. "Don't leave me ever again. This is not considered as sacrificing your life for me. You still owe me your life. You cannot leave me yet. No one can take you away, not even God."

He smiled as he touched her cheek. He trailed her cheek with his finger down to her neck. He giggled and continued tickling her neck with his index finger. When his finger reached the bulging spot, he gently pressed it down and he heard her cough.

He leaned against the bed and slowly stood up. His legs trembled as his two hands wrapped around her neck. He was laughing and at the same time, his tears came out from his crimson eyes. His thumbs positioned at the bulging centre which was where the windpipe might be located and slowly pressed it down.

Her breathing became unsteady and the heartbeat machine beeped faster than before. She coughed but her eyes were closed. Her mind did not know anything about it but her body was responding to it. Her body was struggling for oxygen but Natsume would not allow her to breathe. He pressed harder and harder, until he heard a constant irritating sound coming from the machine. He looked at the machine and then back to Mikan.

Something within him snapped. He let go of her and fell back into his wheelchair. His hands pressed against his face and sank his fingers into his skull. They went deeper and deeper until something thick and red trickled down on his face.

"I did told you, didn't I?" he cried softly. "You are mine. If I could not have you, then nobody should. Nobody must have you, except for me. Only I can have you, just like how you must have me by your side. We need other each other forever. Only me…"

Suddenly, the doctors rushed into the room and the nurses gasped. They were shocked to see two things in the room. Firstly, the heartbeat machine did not show any signs of frequency on the screen and the machine produced a constant high pitch sound. It meant that the girl's heart had stopped beating. Secondly, they saw a boy in wheelchair sitting next to her bed and blood was all over his face. He was responding neither to the call of the doctors nor the shaking of the nurses. He saw sat there in daze with his unblinking eyes wide opened.

"That poor boy must be in great shock to see his friend in this state. Hurry and bring him to the other ward to let him rest there. Remember to clean up his wounds too," a doctor said to a nurse and then he proceeded to try to save Mikan with the other doctors and nurses.

-:-:-:-

Yuka knew she was also partially indebted to Natsume because he had saved Mikan the last time and she had to agree that Mikan did suffer after all these while. She could not hide the fact that she did not. Those two friends of Mikan were putting a blame on Natsume because he had hurt her terribly. Not that she disagreed with them, she was just unhappy with the way how the world worked for her and Mikan.

She looked at Hotaru and Ruka with a weak smile. Those two had gone on and on about freeing Mikan from Natsume since both of them did not owe each other anything anymore. She knew that those friends of Mikan really did care about Mikan but all she wanted to say was just one point to them.

"I hope so but you know what?" Yuka said to Hotaru and Ruka as she erased her smile from her face. "All of these happenings are because of the two of you. If you two weren't her friends, Natsume will not have threatened her. She would not be hurt like she is in now."

Then, there was silence in the waiting room.

* * *

**Merry Christmas, everyone! Yup, I know that I updated this chapter very early this week and let's just say this is my Christmas gift to you guys who are currently reading this story and have supported me since April 2012. Thank you very much! ;)  
**

******I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 5. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D**

******Here are the reviewers:  
**

******- nix  
- shila_  
- _lisaOpine  
- yuri-chan  
- Superstar  
- Miss Evana  
- Akigane  
- i. Love. food. but. not. you  
- Vehemens Ford  
- Devilish Dream  
- Prick 'n Improper  
- Soul. Sister75  
**

**********Lastly, ****I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)**

* * *

**************Here are the common questions which are being asked by most of you or you might be currently thinking right now:  
**

**************1) Will this story progress as they grow older (teenage or adulthood)?  
**

_No, it will not because of 'a restriction' in the last chapter (I can't tell you guys what it is as it will become a spoiler). Fortunately, if the responses are extremely good, I don't mind writing a sequel. It may be a progression from their middle school lives to high school lives or maybe a time skip to their high school lives. It depends if you guys want a sequel though.  
_

**2) Does Natsume's parents know about him abusing Mikan?  
**

_ Since they are always away from home and leaving their poor son alone, it is highly impossible for them to know about it. The worst part is that Yuka is 'cooperating' with Natsume because of their belief in 'Mikan owes Natsume her life' and Mikan always kept quiet about her relationship with him until she met Hotaru and Ruka. Therefore, nobody actually speak a word about this matter to his parents.  
_

**3) Will Aoi appear in the future chapters?**

_I'm sorry, guys. No, she won't appear._

**4) I am still confused about what really happened in the past! Will there be more 'revelation' chapters?_  
_**

_Well, here is the good news! As the story progresses from this chapter onwards, you can find more hints about Mikan's past (more on the impact of her parents' divorce, how she met Natsume, the actual reason why she wanted to commit suicide and so on). So, please rest assured. This chapter is not the only 'revelation' chapter in this story; there are more details about Natsume's and Mikan's past in the future chapters, especially in Chapter 17 (so please be prepared to be loaded with lots of information)._

**Please feel free to ask me any questions. I will try to answer them as far as possible.**

* * *

**************Do you like this story so far? Do you want more psychotic characters and story plot? If yes, do look forward to my very first Vocaloid fanfic which I will be be posting this Friday. I do hope that the names of the characters won't be a bother to you though. Here is a sneak peak of it:  
**

Unsolved

_"Rin... since elementary school up till now, I, Len Kagamine, have always loved you. That's all I have to say before I become Miku's... sacrifice."_

Suddenly, Rin felt a strong push on her back and she stumbled forward. Her head hit against Kaito's body and she groaned in pain. Kaito was merely shivering in fear that he did not even respond to her hit at all. Curious, Rin used Kaito's shoulder as support and tiptoed with her right leg, in order to see what was going on in the classroom.

And she saw it.

Blood were being spattered all over the classroom and glass fragments were all over the floor, desks and chairs. A fallen ceiling fan was stuck in between two cupboards at the corner of the classroom. The blades of the fan were covered with blood and the blood was dripping from them, staining the books on the floor.

Of course, there were more of it.

Rin saw a body lying flat on the floor with a pool of blood surrounding him. The body was twitching, especially his fingers and his limbs. But what horrified her was the head of the person. The boy's head was found lying on top of one of the cupboards. The eyes of the boy's bloodied head were enlarged and the mouth was wide opened.

Rin's hands turned clammy and her breathing became irregular. The sight was indeed revolting and gruesome. She covered her mouth and shivered uncontrollably.

_"According to the school's history, Lady Miku hates waiting, especially when it comes to her meals."_

* * *

**************Don't forget to review this chapter! Thanks!**


	7. Chapter 7: Forgotten Promise

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 7: Forgotten Promise

"Your daughter is fine," the doctor repeated this sentence again. "It was just a sudden stop of heartbeat and that was all. We have managed to save her just in time. Rest assured, Ma'am."

Yuka heaved a sigh of relief and sat down on a bench. Hotaru and Ruka looked relief too and they sat next to each other. There was complete silence among them.

_I hope so but you know what? _

_All of these happenings are because of the two of you._

_If you two weren't her friends, Natsume will not have threatened her._

_She would not be hurt like she is in now._

All of a sudden, a nurse came out of a room and approached Yuka.

"Natsume Hyuuga is all right too. His head has already stopped bleeding," the nurse spoke with a slight concern shown on her face. "It must be hard on him as well. Seeing his friend's heartbeat suddenly stopped must have frightened him."

"Is he still in that room?" Yuka asked while pointing at the room where the nurse had just came out from.

The nurse nodded and then, dismissed herself. Yuka walked into the room with Hotaru and Ruka, and the first thing they saw was a boy with bandages wrapped around his head staring into space. He looked dazed and oblivious to his surroundings. Hotaru gritted her teeth and stomped towards him. She grabbed his shirt and slapped him across his face. However, he did not flinch at all. He was completely out of this world.

Ruka pulled Hotaru away from Natsume and glared at her. Yuka just stood there next to Natsume, looking very emotionless. Natsume was still not responding.

"Natsume-kun, you tried to kill Mikan, right?" Yuka hissed.

This time, Natsume finally looked up at her and stuttered, "N... No... I... I...did not..."

"Liar!" Hotaru screamed and Ruka quickly covered her mouth with his hand.

Yuka stepped forward and touched Natsume's forehead.

"I see," Yuka mumbled and she put her hand back to her side.

"He is obviously lying! Mikan won't die that easily. It must be him who tried to kill her!" Hotaru removed Ruka's hand from her mouth and shouted angrily.

Natsume shook his head with tears in his eyes and laughed, "As if I would! I would never kill her. It just that..."

"What is it?" Ruka interrupted suspiciously.

Natsume looked at him and smiled. His hands went around his own neck and his thumbs were on his throat. Then, he did an action of pretending to twist his own neck and laughed again.

"You strangled her! I knew it!" Ruka said loudly and was ready to punch Natsume until Hotaru stopped him.

"I was just playing around," Natsume chuckled. "But she survives, doesn't she?"

This time, Yuka slapped Natsume which made him shock. He touched his swollen cheek and looked at her.

"Let me tell you this. Mikan is no longer indebted to you! So, please stop harassing her anymore!" Yuka cried with tears finally came out from her eyes as she kneeled in front of him.

Natsume covered his ears and chanted, "I don't understand what you are talking about. I don't understand what you are talking about. I don't understand what you are..."

Yuka pulled his hands away from his ears and begged, "Please! I beg you! My daughter will still be your friend. You don't need that excuse to bind yourself to her. You two need to be freed! Please let her go, Natsume-kun!"

"No! No! No!" he shrieked. "If I do that, Mikan will die! I will be lonely again! I can't do that! We need each other so much! I..."

He stopped his ranting and panted.

"I... I..."

Suddenly, his head dropped and hung so low that his chin could touch his chest. He had stopped moving and everything became quiet. Yuka lifted up his head and realised that his eyes were already closed. He was still breathing and somehow, he fell asleep. His brain had shut down by itself. After all, Natsume was very tired.

Yuka gently put his head down and straightened up her body. She turned to face Hotaru and Ruka and gave them a smile.

"I hope what I have just said will turn the tables around," Yuka whispered softly and the two children looked at each other before giving her a nod.

-:-:-:-

Mikan slowly opened her eyes and noticed that she was staring right at a bright fluorescent light on the ceiling. She covered her eyes with her right hand. The hand on her face accidentally touched something rough on her forehead. Removing her hand from her eyes, she began tracing the material.

She saw a small mirror situated next to her bed so she stretched out her left hand and grabbed that mirror before looking at her image. She was shocked to find her head was all wrapped up with bandages, even her hair could not be seen at all. She looked like a bald mummy.

She put the mirror back on the small table and tried to sit up but was a little difficult to do so as her back felt pain.

"Where is Mum?" Mikan groaned. "Where am I?"

She looked around frantically and spotted a few buttons at the side of the bed. One of them was labeled 'Position upwards' so she pressed it curiously. The bed jerked and she began pressing the button continuously until she was in a sitting position. She glanced around the room and realised she was in a hospital ward alone.

While touching the bandages on her head, she tried to recall whatever had caused her to be in this state. She just could not remember it at all. All she could remember before she fell into unconsciousness was that she was trying to stop Natsume from doing something. She pondered hard and finally gave up. She pulled the covers away and noticed that her left ankle was also bandaged. She sighed deeply. How she wished that she could walk out from this uncomfortable bed and return home to see her mother.

Suddenly, she heard noises coming from outside the room. Mikan quickly pulled back the covers and started jamming onto the 'Position downwards' button but it was too late. The door slid open and revealed a doctor and two nurses.

Both parties stared at each other for a few seconds until the doctor spoke, "Gosh! You have woken up earlier than I have expected. How are you feeling now?"

Mikan shrugged and replied, "I'm fine, but my head and back hurt a lot."

"What about your left ankle?" a nurse asked as she began to inspect the enormously huge bandaged feet.

"I can't move it so I can't feel a single pain," Mikan answered. "What happened to me before I came here?"

"You fell down from a building," the doctor said while recording something down on his clipboard. "Well, it seemed to be an accident while having a fight with your friends. Can't you remember it?"

Mikan looked at him and questioned again, "How long have I been here?"

"Three days ago," he quickly replied. "Anyway, you are quite lucky. People with severe head concussion will usually take a long time to wake up or may even result in a long-term coma. Some people may suffer from amnesia, be it permanently or temporary."

Mikan touched her head again and the doctor laughed, "I'm sure that you could still remember your name, your family members and the things about yourself and your daily life."

Mikan nodded and blushed.

"I think I am all right after all. I know that my name is Mikan Sakura and I live with Mum. I love reading manga and drawing," Mikan listed out loudly with a large beam on her face. "I love my friends as well."

The doctor and nurses were delighted to find that Mikan was fine, in terms of mentality. They excused themselves from the ward and left Mikan alone again to report the good news to her mother and her three friends.

Upon hearing the good news, Yuka rushed into Mikan's ward, together with Hotaru, Ruka and Natsume behind her. When she slid open the door, she saw Mikan was peeling a red apple with a small knife. Mikan looked up and stared at them with a grin.

"Hello!" Mikan greeted.

"Mikan! You are all right! I'm worried sick for you!" Yuka cried as she rushed to give Mikan a hug.

"Mum, I'm peeling the apple," Mikan mumbled and Yuka immediately let her go with a laugh.

Hotaru ran to the side of the bed and said happily, "Mikan, I miss you so much! I am super glad that you have finally awakened."

"Same here," Ruka said as he took the apple and knife away from her hand. "Let me help you with the apple."

Mikan smiled at him and said in a rather happy tone, "Thank you."

Then, she saw Natsume at a corner, looking down on the floor.

She called out to him, "Natsume, are you okay?"

Natsume looked up at her. She was smiling at him. It was not a normal smile but it was a smile which he had not seen for years; a smile which she used to carry before all her friends turned against her.

"Mikan, are you really all right?" Natsume asked as he moved towards her but Hotaru stopped him.

"Don't come any nearer to her before you try strangling her again," Hotaru hissed.

Mikan laughed, "It's okay, Hotaru. Natsume won't do that, will he? Anyway, he is our friend, isn't he?"

There was silence until Ruka spoke up, "He is not my friend and will never will. Mikan, do you know this Natsume guy here tried to kill you because he still believes that you owe him your life despite having you to save him and even made you land up in here?"

"I owe him... my life?" Mikan mused and started laughing. "That's funny. Since when?"

There was silence again. Everyone was staring at Mikan with widened eyes and Natsume was the only who kept shaking after hearing that. For some reason, he wanted to cry. He really wanted to kill her. He could not believe that Mikan was making a joke out of their promise.

Hotaru patted Mikan's shoulder proudly and proclaimed, "Mikan, you're right. You don't owe anyone your life."

"Yeah, I don't remember owing him anything, except for the pocket money which he lent me during our 4th Grade but I did return him afterwards. We are great friends, right? Yes, Natsume?" Mikan said and smiled at Natsume.

"Wait! I saved your life the last time and I became handicapped because of you. You owe me a lot, Mikan!" Natsume practically shouted at her which made her shock.

"Natsume, what you have just said, is it all true?" Mikan said with a worried look plastered on her face. "Like I said, I don't remember you saving my life at all. Neither did I remember saving your life too. As far as I could remember, you are born handicapped. Am I right?"

At this moment, Yuka grabbed Mikan's shoulders and queried worriedly, "Mikan, are you seriously all right? What happened to you? You are definitely not yourself at all!"

After gently removing Yuka's hands from her shoulders, Mikan looked at Yuka's pale face and then gave her another smile.

"What are you talking about, Mum?"

* * *

**Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 7.  
**

******I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 6. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D**

******Here are the reviewers:  
**

******- Akigane  
- Vehemens Ford_  
- _Ayaka-hime  
- KLP-Chan  
- i. Love. food. but. not. you  
- Devilish Dream  
- Anna The Weird  
- lisaOpine  
- Anna The Weird  
**

**********Lastly, ****I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)**

* * *

**Note: Have anyone of you read 'Unsolved'? Chapter 2 is already up! If you haven't read that story yet, please do read and review it. I hope you won't mind about the names of the characters at all. Hmm... I'm a little tempted to convert it into GA version. -.-************  
**

**************Well, don't forget to review this chapter! Thanks!**


	8. Chapter 8: Acceptance

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 8: Acceptance

"Doctor, I thought you said that Mikan was fine. Why does she have amnesia?" Yuka asked loudly while pointing at Mikan who was happily eating the apple which Ruka had just peeled for her.

The doctor scratched his head and let out an embarrassed laughter, "Sorry, Ma'am. I think hers is just a minor memory lost but usually, patients like that would remember their memories after a short while. For some rare cases, it might take a very long time to recover the lost memories. The easiest and fastest solution is to allow her to undergo sessions of wave therapy to slowly recover her memories. It will be very costly, Ma'am."

Yuka exclaimed, "However, this is different! Her memories seem to be altered! She said that Natsume-kun was born physically disabled, according to her memories, but it is not true at all! Don't tell me amnesia will cause alteration in memories!"

"Calm down," the doctor said. "Amnesia doesn't alter one's memory. I am not sure about this case but I have heard about it before."

"What is it?"

The doctor closed in and whispered into her ear, "Maybe she altered her own memories."

Yuka gasped and whispered back, "Wait, why?"

"Maybe because she doesn't want to face the reality? Who knows?"

"Is it scientifically proven, Doctor?"

"Nope, but like I said, I just heard about it. It sounded very psychological though. Maybe Mikan Sakura is just suffering from a simple memory lost and has her own delusions."

Yuka looked at Mikan again and sighed, "I hope so, Doctor. Thanks."

Then, the doctor bowed and left the ward. Yuka walked towards the bed and sat next to it. Mikan took the last bite of her apple and threw it into a small bin next to her bed. She looked at Yuka and smiled.

"Mum, when will I be discharged?" Mikan asked.

Yuka touched Mikan's cheeks and answered, "Not until the doctor has found out about your strangely altered memories."

"Ma'am, I think it is a good thing that Mikan has forgotten about the bad things that Natsume guy had done to her," Hotaru interjected while narrowing her eyes at Natsume.

"Shut up!" Natsume shouted and then turned to Mikan desperately. "Mikan, do you still remember what happened to your arms and neck? It shows that you are always mine..."

Mikan's eyes widened, showing a little fear in her eyes but at the next moment, she giggled. She looked at her arms and traced the letterings.

"I do remember how I got those," she muttered with a weak smile. "I drew them with a sewing needle because I..."

Natsume shivered and covered his ears. He was shocked to know that Mikan seemed to remember nothing which had the relation with him. This Mikan was totally a different person from whom he had always known.

"Liar!" he shrieked. "You are always mine. Those wordings were carved by me. How could you anyhow say things?"

"Natsume, you are wrong. I carved these because I lost in..."

Before he could allow her to finish her sentence, he shouted again, "Shut up, Mikan!"

"Natsume, can't you remember that night when we both played 'Truth or Dare'? I chose 'Dare' so as per request, I drew them with a sewing needle. It was painful though, but it was fun playing with you..."

Hotaru immediately cut in, "Wait, Mikan! I don't get you at all! I thought he hurt you because you had our contacts."

"What contacts?" Mikan asked curiously which caused Ruka and Hotaru to frown at her.

Yuka sighed and signaled Hotaru and Ruka to follow her outside of the room.

"Sorry, kids. It seems that Mikan has really been acting weird after she has woken up. Please give her some time to rest her tired mind. Anyway, it is quite late. Why don't you head home first? Your parents might be worried."

The children nodded hesitantly and left quietly. Yuka looked at her watch and realised it was indeed late so she walked to the canteen to buy some supper for herself and Natsume.

-:-:-:-

Natsume removed his shaking hands from his ears and gritted his teeth. He felt humiliated really badly. The girl whom he loved had forgotten everything he had done for her.

"Natsume."

He looked up at Mikan and grunted, "What?"

"Let's go to school together after I am discharged," Mikan suggested with a smile.

Natsume jerked for a moment before retorting angrily, "I don't go to school and I will never will. You know that too, Mikan."

"I know that so that is why I am calling you to attend school together with me, Hotaru and Ruka."

"Shut up! I hate school. People will just screw my life up in school!"

"Natsume, all you need is getting to know more people and have more friends..."

"No, all I need is just you. All I need in this world is only you," he interrupted her.

"Please go to school," she insisted with a smile. "I promise you that the people there are nice. Trust me, Natsume."

"No."

Mikan sighed and then asked softly, "Do you love me?"

Natsume opened his eyes in surprise and blushed.

"O... Of course, I do! If not, why do you think I will..."

"If you love me, please go to school for my sake," she continued with pleading eyes.

"Why are you ordering me to do things?" he snorted. "That is so unlike you at all."

Mikan laughed, "What are you talking about? I am doing this for you too."

Natsume pondered for awhile and finally, he decided to accept her request. He hated school but at the same time, he just liked Mikan. Just then, something cruel came into his mind. Maybe going to school was not bad at all, he thought to himself. He was thinking to separate Mikan from Hotaru and Ruka, so that he could have her all by himself. It seemed to be a good idea to him after all.

"Fine then. I will go for your sake," he answered with a smirk. "But I will go to school for just one day only."

Upon hearing that, Mikan got choked on her saliva and shouted, "What did you just say?"

-:-:-:-

"What are you doing, jerk?" Hotaru hissed at Natsume who was trying to stand up with his two feet. "If you dare to commit suicide again, I will not save you, unlike Mikan."

Natsume glared at her and took two clutches to balance himself.

"Shut your big mouth, idiot. I am learning to walk," he hissed back.

"Ha! A delusional sadist is trying to walk with his two feet," she sang sarcastically which earned her a kick on her leg by one of his clutches. "Hey! What's your problem? You are trying to bully me again, aren't you? Do you seriously think you will chase me out of Mikan's sight again?"

"Yes, I seriously think so," he growled.

Hotaru gritted her teeth and grunted, "Delusional sadistic jerk!"

Ruka put down his storybook and walked over to them. He stood in between them and narrowed his eyes at Natsume.

Then, he faced Hotaru and sighed, "Come on, don't fight anymore. Didn't Mikan say we should help him to learn how to walk before he attends school with us?"

"I don't need your help at all," Natsume said arrogantly.

Hotaru agreed, "Yeah, this guy here doesn't need our help. Let's go home."

Ruka shook his head and sighed again, "You two surprisingly get along really well."

"No, we don't!" both of them shouted together in sync and then, they were back gritting their teeth and glaring at each other.

It was the following day since Mikan had woken up. It was a miracle that she had survived two times in a row; firstly, she fell off from her apartment and survived, and secondly, her heart had stopped beating because Natsume had strangled her but she survived soon after the doctors had saved her. She seemed to have a guardian angel next to her side.

Not only that, what nearly surprised or rather, shocked everyone was that Natsume was willing to go school and even tried to overcome his walking disability. It was a great news indeed...

"It is definitely a bad news!" Hotaru muttered under her breath while slumping against the sofa. "I can't imagine my school life with this sadist! He is going to bring dolls to school and will be scaring the wits out of everyone."

"Shut up," Natsume snorted and threw a doll at her. "I am doing this for Mikan, not for you, sickening chicken."

"What sickening..."

"Will the two of you ever stop?" Ruka said again while still in between them.

Upon hearing the commotion, Yuka walked into Mikan's room and spotted the three of them there glaring at one another.

"Kids, please don't make too much noise. Our neighbours are complaining," Yuka warned while showing them a wireless telephone in her hand. "By the way, I've also received a call from the hospital about Mikan. She will be discharged next week. Then, the four of you will attend school together. Natsume, I'm glad that you have finally chosen to attend school after all the years relying on Mikan."

Natsume frowned at her and then, looked away. He continued his legs exercises while the other two just watched and criticised him along the way. It was a good time for their revenges on his sadistic behaviour.

* * *

**Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 8.  
**

******I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 7. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D**

******Here are the reviewers:  
**

******- i. Love. food. but. not. you  
- Anna The Weird_  
- _Vegie-1526  
- AliceOfMusic  
- Meimi  
- Soul. Sister75  
- lisaOpine  
- Vehemens Ford  
- Devilish Dream  
- Natsu  
**

**********Lastly, ****I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)**

* * *

**************Here is the common question which is being asked by some of you or you might be currently thinking right now:  
**

**************1) Is anyone of these characters Alice?  
**

_No, all of them are normal human beings like us.  
_

**Please feel free to ask me any questions. I will try to answer them as far as possible.**

* * *

**************Well, don't forget to review this chapter! Thanks!**


	9. Chapter 9: Warm Up

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 9: Warm Up

"Class, this is Natsume Hyuuga. He has a weak body so he did not attend school like all of us do. Thus, I hope everyone will treat him good and welcome him with open arms," Misaki said as he patted Natsume's head gently. "Hyuuga-san, please say something about yourself."

Natsume bit his lips with fear. There were so many pairs of eyes looking at him with anticipation and worst of all, he knew none of them. Just then, he saw Mikan sitting at the front row with Hotaru. He wished he had spotted Mikan earlier because he was already shivering like he was just taken out from a freezer.

"H... H... Hi?" he stammered with his eyes closed.

"Oh my gosh! He is so cute!"

"I wonder if he has a girlfriend! He is so dashing!"

"He is so going to be my best friend!"

Natsume opened his eyes and looked at Mikan in horror. He was so afraid of these people that his tears began to flow out uncontrollably. Mikan nodded her head at him, signaling him that everything was alright.

However, Hotaru was giggling at his crying face and even mused loudly, "Ha! Sadistic crybaby!"

Misaki shrugged at the commotion and said to Natsume, "Come on, don't be afraid. They mean no harm to you. Why don't you take a seat next to Koizumi-san, the girl who is sitting near the window at the last row?"

The girl who was called Luna Koizumi waved at Natsume happily. Natsume shot her a glare which made her wince a little and then he ran towards Mikan.

"I want to sit with Mikan!" he exclaimed. "I need her!"

"No, you have to sit with Koizumi-san," Misaki ordered sternly. "This is a school, not your home."

Luna walked over and held onto Natsume's wrist. She gave him another sweet smile and led him to his seat. He did struggle but this girl was too strong for him to break away from her grasp. He vowed to do weightlifting to gain some muscles on his little body. He looked over to Mikan and caught her laughing at Hotaru's words. Hotaru must have said a joke which made her laugh. He clenched his fists. He was planning to separate Mikan from whoever her friends were and showed them that she was originally his.

"Hello Natsume-kun, I'm Luna Koizumi. Nice to meet you," Luna greeted the fuming Natsume.

Natsume ignored her and continued to stare at Mikan throughout the whole lesson.

-:-:-:-

Time passed quickly and it was finally lunch break. Mikan packed her school bag and looked over to Natsume who was surrounded with many students. Mikan kept staring at him until Hotaru shook her shoulders violently.

"Mikan, I have called you so many times! What are staring at?" Hotaru asked.

Mikan rubbed her eyes and smiled at Hotaru.

"Nothing. I'm just realising that Natsume is fitting into the class so fast," she replied as she took out her purse from her bag.

Hotaru stole a glance at the crowd around Natsume's table and scowled, "Good for him and you. In this way, he won't bother you anymore. Am I right that you purposely want him to go to school so that he will make friends and leave you alone?"

There was no response from Mikan. All she did was staring at Natsume. She clutched onto her purse tightly and walked out of the classroom with Hotaru tagging behind her.

"Mikan, are you okay?" Hotaru queried worriedly at her unsettling expression.

"Yes, I'm perfectly fine. It just that I am glad that Natsume has new friends," Mikan mumbled softly. "I wanted him to go to school because I have realised he is an introvert and he needs more space for him to open himself up to others, other than just me. This is what I thought when I was still in the hospital."

Hotaru continued, "Then, what about your amnesia? Is it getting any better?"

Mikan jerked and her hands shook a little.

Her face slowly crooked a smile and laughed, "What are you talking about? I have no amnesia in the first place. Didn't I tell everyone that I can remember every single event in my life?"

"This is not what I meant. Everything in your memory is altered very badly!"

"It's not. I remember that I met Hotaru and Ruka last week. Natsume is my first best friend till now. Natsume and I used to play together but because he is born handicapped, we could not play lots of games..."

"Mikan, you are wrong about him. He abused you and you were hurt by him. You were always crying under Ruka's and my arms. You even tried to be freed from him. How can you forget about these?" Hotaru blurted.

Mikan's hands wrapped around her head and pressed it hard. Her tears came flowing out from her eyes. She fell onto her knees and panted heavily. Getting even more worried, Hotaru bent down and placed her hand on Mikan's back.

"Mikan..."

"Enough said. I don't want to hear anything about my memory. Altered or not will not affect me in any way either," Mikan interrupted her and quickly stood up.

She rubbed her tears away and patted her cheeks before heading to the canteen for lunch. As for Hotaru, she could only remain silent as she followed behind Mikan. Feelings of awkwardness and guilt, Hotaru knew she had said a little too much and promised herself not to speak anything related to her memory ever again unless there was a need to bring that up.

After ordering their lunches, they spotted Ruka eating alone at an empty round table so they went over to sit next to him.

"Why are you eating alone?" Hotaru asked Ruka in a playful manner. "You should have just waited for us and then, we will go for lunch together."

Ruka scoffed, "No thanks. People will think that I am a girl waiting for her girlfriends."

"Oh, come on! You are so sensitive. It is very common for boys to go out with girls at this age. So there is nothing to hide, unless you are still thinking about what that sadistic jerk called you," Hotaru teased. "He thought you were a girl at first. Am I right?"

Ruka's face turned beet red and nodded angrily. Mikan raised her eyebrows at them but still remained silent while eating her ramen.

"It is really good to see Natsume getting use to school. He should thank us for training his weak legs over the past week," Ruka said as he stirred his iced drink.

Hotaru nodded frantically and joked, "He really should be thanking us. However, I can tell that his legs are still quite weak. A week of trainings is not enough at all."

Mikan giggled, "Well, at least he can walk by himself without any help at all. Hey, do the both of you want to come over to my house after school for fun?"

Hotaru and Ruka looked at each other, then back at Mikan with apologetic looks on their faces.

Hotaru said, "Sorry, I have club practice after school."

"Me too. Sorry," Ruka spoke too.

Mikan smiled at them and laughed softly, "It's okay. I am just asking. Don't take it too hard."

"Maybe we will go over tomorrow," Hotaru suggested and winked at Ruka to give his reply.

Ruka forced a smile and said, "Y... Yes, we will go over tomorrow. Anyway, what club are you in?"

"You mean, me?" Mikan asked while pointing at herself questionably and Ruka nodded. "I don't know yet. I think I will join Art Club. What about you guys?"

"I'm in Drama Club," Ruka announced proudly.

Hotaru answered too, "I'm in Volleyball Club. It is very fun."

Mikan thought for awhile and suggested to herself loudly, "I think I will join Volleyball Club too."

"But Volleyball Club has no more vacancy left," Hotaru winced as she also wanted Mikan to join her. "I know! Why don't you join the Badminton Club as these two clubs are always sharing the gymnasium together?"

Mikan's face brightened up upon hearing that and nodded. This way, she can be with Hotaru, even during club activities. She was looking forward in joining the club as soon as possible, most probably after school lessons.

Just then, she saw Natsume walking into the canteen with a group of boys and girls surrounding him. She quickly stood up and waved to him. However, he did not notice her at all. His attention was all on his new friends and he was giggling shyly along with them. Mikan lowered her hand and stared at him and the group of students. Hotaru witnessed that too and grunted while Ruka frowned at him. Mikan let out a soft laughter and sat down. Her tears were welling up again.

She wiped her tears off with her sleeves and put on a cherry voice, "Natsume is really getting along with everyone. I am so happy that I even cry for him. What a weird person I am!"

Her two friends stared at her and pretended to agree with her statement but deep inside them, they were very glad that Natsume did not bother her again, even if it was only for one day. Well, it was at least better than nothing at all.

However, little did they know that a terrible storm was beginning to brew because of Natsume and everyone's ignorance.

* * *

**Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 9.  
**

******I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 8. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D**

******Here are the reviewers:  
**

******- animequeen01  
- sakura-san29_  
- _Meimi  
- Devilish Dream  
- xXxStrawberryAngelxXx  
- Vegie-1526  
- nix  
- Vehemens Ford  
- Akigane  
- Soul. Sister75  
- Crimson Darkness  
**- crimson hazel hearts

**********Lastly, ****I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)**

* * *

******************************Here are the common questions which are being asked by most of you or you might be currently thinking right now:**

**************1) Is Natsume changing? He is a little less violent since the last chapter.  
**

_I think I had answered this type of question before in the first few chapters but it is okay for me to answer this question again. In my opinion, he is slowly changing. It also depends on how you look at him. Some would say that he is not changing because he is still quite obsessive over Mikan, while others would say otherwise as he did not display any psychotic acts ever since Mikan woke up from her coma.  
_

**2) Did Mikan purposely 'alter' her memories?  
**

_I don't wish to be a spoiler but the answer will be revealed in Chapter 15 and more on Chapter 16. But what do you think about her condition? Did she really lose her memories and have her own delusions?  
_

**3) If you think about it, Mikan had never really said if she loves/likes Natsume, right?  
**

_Yup! You're so sharp. Mikan only said 'Do you love me?' and nothing else. I thought I was the only one who is aware of this since I purposely put it this way to show that Mikan's feelings for him is still unknown to the readers.  
_

**4) What is this story based on? **

_This story is based on a mysterious murder case happened somewhere between 2004-2008 in Tokyo, Japan. The killer (name was not revealed by the government officials) was more psychotic than Natsume and Narumi (whom I'm going to introduce later). This killer was deeply in love with a person (name __was also not revealed by the government officials_) and, was willing to kill anyone who got very close to that person. The killer even hurt that person (supposedly the person whom the killer loved) in the process. Up till today, the killer is still on the lose. (Somehow, the killer reminds me of a word 'yandere'.) However, this fiction is Rated T so there is no extreme yanderes here. The dolls which Natsume kept playing and tearing apart are some sort of an 'alteration form' of the carcasses which the killer dismembered and played with. The friends of Mikan are like the victims of that person but fortunately, they are not going to die.  


_From this chapter onwards to the very last chapter (Chapter 20) will be based off from another murder case happened a few years back. I will touch on that the next time for fear of being a horrible spoiler.  
_

**Please feel free to ask me any questions. I will try to answer them as far as possible.**

* * *

**************Well, don't forget to review this chapter! Thanks!**


	10. Chapter 10: Alone

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 10: Alone

"Sakura-san, I'm very sorry to say that Badminton Club has no more vacancy left," the Badminton coach instructor said apologetically to Mikan.

Mikan sighed and nodded. After thanking the instructor, she quietly made her way out of the school. Walking towards the school gate, she noticed Natsume was standing there, as if he was waiting for someone. Mikan strode towards him and waved hesitantly to him. Much to her luck, Natsume looked at her and his face brightened up.

"Mikan, I've been waiting for you for so long! Where did you go?" Natsume said in a happy tone.

Mikan was taken aback by his cheery atmosphere. It was her first time seeing him talking to her in a happy tone, much more when he demanded where she had gone.

Mikan brushed that aside and replied, "I was at the gymnasium, asking for an application to sign up for the Badminton Club but too bad, there is no vacancy."

"Oh! How sad," he commented with a smirk. "You know, you can spend more time with me rather than playing with that useless stuff."

Mikan shrugged and walked ahead of him, ignoring whatever things he was blabbering to her.

"So, are you coming to school tomorrow? I remembered you saying that you would only attend one day of school," Mikan interrupted his blabbers.

Natsume thought for a moment and answered in an unsure manner, "Maybe I might attend school tomorrow. I must say that the people there are annoyingly nice."

Mikan smiled.

"I think I am beginning to like school," he added happily. "School will be much enjoyable if Mikan sits next to me!"

"No way," Mikan snorted. "I want to sit with Hotaru."

Natsume frowned and huffed angrily, "You are still mixing with that girl again. She pisses me off till the very end!"

Mikan remained silent and began taking up speed. Natsume opened his legs wider to catch up with her and very soon, they had reached home.

After seeing Natsume entered into his house safely, Mikan entered into hers and greeted Yuka. However, she felt something was not right when she saw Yuka came out from the kitchen with a sombre look on her face.

"Mi... Mikan..."

Mikan grabbed her mother's shoulders and sniffed her face and neck. There was a familiar strong stench of alcohol on her body. Mikan let go of her and frowned angrily.

"Mum, what happened to you again? Why are you drunk?" Mikan cried worriedly in a motherly manner as if she was Yuka's mother instead.

"It's... yo... your da... dad," she stuttered uncontrollably. "Th... That man... ca... called me. He wa... wants t... to s... see you."

Mikan's bag fell onto the floor with a loud thud. She just stood on that same spot, staring blankly into space. Her eyes enlarged as if she was petrified to hear the news. Her mouth opened slightly but closed back again and her lips slowly crooked into a small smile.

Her dad wanted to see her. Her dad was going to see her. Ever since the divorce, her dad had never called back home and asked if his daughter was doing well. She had no news about him too. Their worlds were completely different after the disastrous divorce and it had a huge impact on her life.

"Mum?"

"Y... Y... Yes?"

"When is he coming home to see me?"

"Ne... Next week? Sorry, I... I can't remember."

"Great! I have always wondered how he looks like ever since..."

Mikan paused and picked up her bag. She gently patted both of her cheeks and giggled excitedly. She held onto Yuka who had difficulty balancing herself and brought her face really close to hers. Yuka gasped as she had never seen Mikan's facial expression before. Though she was partially drunk, she could tell that it looked happy and excited but at the same time, demented and hurt.

Then, Mikan continued with a chuckle, "Ever since I was born."

-:-:-:-

"Sakura-san, you look extremely happy today," Ruka commented curiously as he took an empty chair and sat in front of her.

Mikan snapped out from her thoughts and caught herself looking into his light blue eyes. Mikan blushed and quickly looked away.

"Wh... What are you talking about?" she mumbled without giving any eye contact with Ruka. "D... Did I look really happy? Did I have a goofy smile on my face? Did I chuckle to myself? Did I smirk for no reason?"

Ruka raised one eyebrow at her and replied amusingly, "Yes, you did. What happened?"

Mikan's jaw nearly dropped and she quickly cupped her flustered face with two hands.

"In fact, I'm truly happy," she mumbled shyly. "Dad wants to see me and he is coming back home next week!"

Ruka smiled too, "That's great! I'm happy for you, Sakura-san!"

"Thank you, Ruka!"

"Sakura-san, I wonder if..."

"Ruka!" a voice interrupted him and the two of them stared at the person standing at the sliding door of their classroom. "We need your help! Hurry and help us before lessons start."

Ruka stood up and said apologetically to Mikan, "Sakura-san, I will catch up with you later. I need to help my club members now. Very sorry."

Mikan shook her head with a smile and reassured him, "No, it's fine. Goodbye!"

Then, Ruka left the classroom with the boy.

"Is she your girlfriend?" the boy teased and poked Ruka's cheeks slyly. "She's kind of cute, if you ask me."

Ruka brushed his hand off from his redden cheeks and retorted, "Of course not! She is just a friend. You better not hit on her..."

"Ruka-chi, you're so cute! Look at your face. It's so red. Are you afraid that I would seriously hit on her?" the boy laughed playfully, earning him a light punch on his stomach.

"Don't you dare call me 'Ruka-chi'!" Ruka grunted loudly. "I'm a boy, for goodness sake!"

"Chill!"

Ruka snorted again with his eyes closed, "Furthermore, if I caught you flirting with Sakura-san, I will wring you dry."

"Jealous freak."

"Shut up..."

Meanwhile, Mikan looked at her watch and sighed deeply, "Hotaru is late."

She looked over to Natsume's table and caught him together with the same group of students surrounding his table. He seemed embarrassed as his face was slightly pinkish and his cheeks were bloated. Somehow he looked very adorable. His partner, Luna, said something and the group, including Natsume, started laughing. She kept poking Natsume's cheeks while the others cooed at his cuteness and started poking him too. Just by the look of it, one could easily tell that he had forgotten about Mikan.

_I need you, just like how you need me..._

Mikan gripped onto the hem of her skirt and shivered uncontrollably. This feeling was so familiar and she hated it. She hated it but why did they come back to haunt her all over again?

"Sh... Shut up," she muttered under her breath as she squatted down while her hands started pulling her fringes. "Shut up! Shut up!"

"Mikan!"

Mikan stopped and looked up. It was Hotaru who called her and she was staring at Mikan in a shock and worried manner before squatting down next to her. Touching her forehead, Hotaru heaved a sigh of relief.

"You are not having a fever or anything but what happened to you?" Hotaru asked worriedly.

"Hotaru," Mikan cried and immediately embraced Hotaru.

She said nothing afterwards, leaving Hotaru completely clueless but she did not question any further. Their classmates who saw this scene was rather confused too by her sudden outburst but they just brushed it aside without questioning any further too.

-:-:-:-

"Sorry, Mikan. I got to help out with my senpais because there is a tournament next week," Hotaru apologised with a small bow. "I can't go over to your house today. What about tomorrow?"

Mikan nodded her head and smiled, "It's alright. Tomorrow would be fine too."

"See you," Hotaru said and rushed off to the gymnasium.

Mikan waved and slowly put her hands back to her side. She looked at Ruka who was standing next to her while reading a literature book. He seemed so immersed into it that he did not know that Hotaru had left.

"Ruka, I will see you tomorrow since Hotaru could not make it for later," Mikan spoke.

Ruka lifted up his head and nodded. He kept his book into his bag and stared into her eyes.

He grabbed her hand and said, "Mikan, as what I wanted to say this morning, I wonder if..."

"Mikan Sakura-san!"

Ruka gritted his teeth angrily and turned his head around, getting ready to yell at the person as he was being interrupted for the second time. It was irritating. However, it was Misaki who had called her and Ruka pretended to smile at him upon realising it was him.

"Yes, Misaki-sensei?" Mikan asked.

Misaki passed her a piece of paper and said sternly, "Sakura-san, please fill in this club activities form. Everyone, except for you and Hyuuga-san, are already participating in club activities. I want this form by tomorrow. Is that clear?"

"Can I apply it now?" Mikan asked.

"Sure. Make it fast."

Mikan took out her pen and filled up the application form before handing it in to Misaki. Then, he left.

"So, what did you apply for?"

"Art club."

"I see..."

"Before that, what did you want to tell me?"

Ruka looked around and saw his club members waving to him. He waved back and turned to Mikan.

He sighed, "Maybe I will tell you the next time. Goodbye!"

Ruka waved to her and left to join the members. Mikan waved too and sighed. Everyone seemed to be busy with many things and their new friends. She took out her handphone and opened her contact list. There was still only one contact which was Natsume's. She looked at her arms which still had the scars on them and somehow, it still hurt a little.

Putting that aside, Mikan pressed the call button of her handphone and waited, but there was no response at all. After many attempts to reach him, he still did not pick up. For the first time, Natsume did not answer her phone call. She shoved her handphone into her pocket and dragged her feet out of school, walking home alone by herself.

* * *

**Hi guys, thanks for reading up to Chapter 10.  
**

******I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 9. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! :D**

******Here are the reviewers:  
**

******- Vehemens Ford  
- AlexanderNicholasRomanov_  
- _Guest  
- Devilish Dream  
- Miss Evana  
- sakura-san29  
- nix  
- meimi  
- xXxStrawberryAngelxXx  
- Akigane  
- 96bittersweetblackcat  
**- SprintingPanda  
- crimson hazel hearts  


**********Lastly, ****I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)**

* * *

******************************Here are the common questions which are being asked by most of you or you might be currently thinking right now:**

**************1) Is Natsume going to drift away from Mikan? Is he going to stop abusing her?  
**

_Maybe so.  
_

**2) Does Luna Koizumi love Natsume ?  
**

_It is yet unknown but her significance in this story is partially important in the development of Mikan's and Natsume's relationship (in the later chapters). I will leave it up to you guys to think about it. (Psst... I think Luna Koizumi won't be as bad as the Luna Koizumi I depicted in 'I Like You, Mikan-sensei'.)  
_

**3) Mikan is kind of similar to Natsume now, or is it?  
**

_Maybe so too...  
_

**4) Is Narumi going to be a psycho kidnapper? **

_(Spoiler Alert!) He will be a mysterious man who seems to be know everything about Mikan and is very interested in her and her dreadful past. (No, he is not a pedophile or her father.) In my opinion, I feel that he is a 'nice' person and is a 'soft-core' psycho who tries to influence Mikan in a 'positive' manner. He loves her tears! (Just kidding.)_

**Please feel free to ask me any questions. I will try to answer them as far as possible.**

* * *

**************Well, don't forget to review this chapter! Thanks!**


	11. Chapter 11: Substitute

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 11: Substitute

"Sakura-san, your drawing skills are not bad," one of the Art Club members praised while holding onto a family portrait. "I like all of your art pieces."

In the portrait, it depicted a scene of a father, a mother and a daughter embracing one another. It was very heartwarming and beautiful. Everyone had a bright and smiling face, except for the father. His face was blank. There was no mouth, nose and even eyes; it was creepily plain.

"What happened to the man's face?" another member asked curiously.

Mikan shrugged and replied, "I have no idea how to draw Dad's face but since I am going to see him later, I might as well draw it afterwards."

"You mean, this is your family portrait? Looks cool!"

"Yes, it is. Thank you."

"About your father, do the both of you live together?"

"No, we don't and we have never seen each other before. Luckily, he said that he wanted to meet me this evening after all these years of separation. I'm very excited!"

The club members returned the art piece to her and cheered, "Good luck for your family reunion, Sakura-san!"

Mikan nodded and smiled at them. The club members packed their school bags and left the art room since club activities had ended. So, Mikan did the same too. She left her masterpiece on the canvas and walked out of the art room too.

She hurried back home and took a quick shower before dressing up herself. She was excited, elated, anxious, nervous and many more indescribable feelings mounted within her. She wore her favourite yellow floral dress and grabbed a matching brown sandals, which Yuka had brought them last summer and she had never worn them since then because they were too pretty, from her wardrobe.

As she skipped to the foyer to put on her shoes, she was stopped abruptly by Yuka. Yuka looked worried and scared. Not only that, she was clinging onto Mikan's dress, as if her life was depended on Mikan. Her desperate face shocked Mikan even more.

"Mum, what happened to you?" Mikan asked worriedly as she carefully placed her hand on her shoulder.

Immediately clutching onto her extended arm, Yuka cried, "You mustn't accept anything from your father. You mustn't agree to anything he asks you to do. You mustn't listen to him and his cunning pleas. He is a scheming man!"

Mikan smiled and nodded. It was not like her father could harm her in any ways; she was his legitimate daughter. Yuka could be worrying a little too much about her.

Mikan kissed her mother's cheek and walked out of the house, heading towards the restaurant where she and her father were supposed to meet.

As soon as she entered the restaurant, she reserved a table for herself and her father, and waited patiently. After a few minutes, her patience wore off and she began calling her father many times but he did not pick up at all.

Just when she was about to keep her handphone inside her side pocket, her handphone rang and vibrated in her hands. She frowned at the caller ID. In fact, it was an unknown number. Thinking that it could be her father, she answered the call. As soon as she picked it up, the other line suddenly cut off, playing a continuous beeping sound into her ears. Mikan became afraid. What if her father had met with an accident and could not meet her at all? She daringly called back the unknown number to see if that person was really her father.

'Tadam... Tadam...'

Mikan jerked. A musical ringtone was playing right behind her and it sounded really close to her. She immediately turned around and spotted a beautiful lady in a long purple glittery dress standing behind her. That lady was holding onto her vibrating handphone too and quickly pressed the reject button. When she pressed that, Mikan's call was ended again. This time Mikan knew that this lady had got to do with that mysterious unknown number.

"Yes, Ma'am? What can I help you?" Mikan asked politely with a fake smile crooked across her face.

The lady smiled at her and replied, "I bet you are Mikan Sakura-san. I am Sumire Shouda, your father's second wife."

Mikan gasped in shock. She had no idea about her father's second wife and here she was, facing an unknown woman who claimed herself to be his wife. However, her father was nowhere to be found.

"Is that so? Where is my father then?" Mikan queried in a nonchalant tone.

Sumire took a seat opposite to Mikan and began digging her little handbag to look for something. Finally, she took out a small envelop and handed it to Mikan.

"Take it," Sumire said. "It's from your father."

Mikan hesitated for awhile and eyed on the neatly enclosed envelope suspiciously.

"Where is my father?" she repeated.

Sumire did not answer but her hand was still extended out with the letter in front of her. Mikan pursed her lips and slowly took the envelope away from her hand. After ripping the envelope apart, she took out a piece of paper from it and read the contents.

_Dearest Mikan, _

_I understand that you have been looking forward to this day when we could finally meet together. It is unfortunate that something has cropped up suddenly today and I have to miss this chance to meet you. However, I have told my wife, Sumire Shouda, to be my substitute for today's meeting. I hope the both of you would get along well with each other and I think you should try talking to her; she is actually a very nice person so don't be scared of her._

_Next, I have also heard from your mother that you have suffered from a major memory loss and alteration so you might have forgotten that your mother and I had divorce many years ago when you were still young. It may sound confusing to you now but that is alright. I believe that you would get better soon._

_Lastly, I would like you to read this part of the letter carefully. It is very important and I need your consideration of this issue. Based on your mother's meagre income, she has difficulty supporting two people at the same time. Furthermore, your mother is an alcoholic so I believe that she would spend her money on alcohols. She has carried a lot of burden to look after you after our divorce. I know about this because she would always quietly ask me for money to pay for your school fees. To her, raising a child is difficult and I have requested many times to take you in to raise you instead, but your mother refuses countless of time. I want you to understand your mother's burden and pain, and make a choice of your own._

_To relieve your mother's burden, I would like you to consider living with me and Sumire. Sumire is barren and has no child of her own but she has always wanted one because she loves children. She is a kind and friendly lady and unlike many fairy tales' stepmothers, I can assure you that she will not ill-treat you but most likely, she might spoil you a little._

_So, please think over what I have written above. Don't worry about us not having to support you. Sumire and I will provide you your basic necessities and education as we have the money to do so for you. Please give your reply about your consideration verbally to Sumire. She will tell me your answer when I return home. Thank you and I love you, Mikan._

_Lots of love,  
Dad  
XX-XX-XXXX_

Mikan folded the letter and slotted it back into the envelope. All her excitement and anticipation wore off immediately after reading it. After all, she bet that her father would talk about this issue if he were to come. Not only that, her father did not attend the dinner at all even though he was the one who suggested it. She felt cheated by him and was utterly disappointed to the point of wanting to crush the long-winded letter and throw it into the bin.

"I want a glass of plain water," Sumire said to a waiter who was standing next to their table. "Sakura-san, what do you like to have? I will pay for our bills."

Mikan shook her head and remained silent. Sumire looked at her worriedly and then, back to the waiter.

"I guess a glass of iced lemon tea for her," Sumire ordered.

Mikan did not say anything either. She just looked gloomy and kept frowning.

When the waiter left, Sumire looked at Mikan and asked softly, "Have you read the entire letter? Your father told me to ask you if you want to live with us, considering the fact that we will provide for you and your mother will have lesser burden. So, what is your answer? Please think slowly and carefully."

Mikan did not reply even until the waiter had returned to serve their drinks to them. Truthfully, she was in a dilemma; she tempted to live her father so that Yuka would have a lesser burden to take care of, however, neither did she wanted to leave her beloved mother alone.

"Sakura-san, what do you like to eat?" Sumire asked.

"I'm not hungry," Mikan replied.

"About that question, please take your time and consider carefully. I can wait for your answer," Sumire added while drinking her glass of water.

_Based on your mother's meagre income, she has difficulty supporting two people at the same time. _

_You mustn't accept anything from your father._

_She has carried a lot of burden to look after you after our divorce._

_You mustn't agree to anything he asks you to do._

_To her, raising a child is difficult and I have requested many times to take you in to raise you instead, but your mother refuses countless of time._

_You mustn't listen to him and his cunning pleas. _

_I want you to understand your mother's burden and pain, and make a choice of your own. _

_He is a scheming man! _

_To relieve your mother's burden, I would like you to consider living with me and Sumire._

Mikan rubbed her forehead in agony. She wanted to help her mother but she was not sure which way was the correct one.

Mikan stood up and spoke softly, "Ma'am, it is great to know that you are willing to take me in, even though I am not your biological daughter, but I love Mum too. I can't leave her alone. I bet Dad has been asking her consistently to allow him take me in instead and I guess it upsets her so she has always been turning to alcohol to relieve herself. Imagine if I leave her like that, what will become of her?"

Sumire kept quiet and nodded understandingly. Of course, who would want to leave someone whom he or she loves dearly? This young girl had reminded about herself when she was younger. Her mother passed away and her father was remarried to another woman who had eventually become her stepmother. At first, she was afraid of her stepmother because of the stories- 'Cinderella' and 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarves' but it had turned out to be different from the stories. Her stepmother was loving and kind but she could be strict and protective like all mothers do. She soon grew to love and accept that woman as her mother. Unfortunately, one day, her family was torn apart and she had to live with her father, instead of her beloved stepmother because she and her stepmother were not related at all. It was painful to leave her and yet, they were not even related by blood. Thus, Sumire knew it was harder for Yuka and Mikan to leave each other as they were mother and daughter, related by flesh and blood, and had forged a strong bond between each other since Mikan's birth.

"Sorry, please give me more time to think about it. I might not give my answer today but I will answer it the next time," Mikan continued with a bow.

Sumire stood up and gently held onto Mikan's shoulders. Mikan looked up and saw a small yet warm smile on Sumire's face.

"I understand and I'm sure your father will understand as well," Sumire said gently. "I will explain to him when he returns home. I like you very much because you are a thoughtful and loving child. Your parents are very lucky to have you as their daughter."

Mikan nodded and bowed again, "Thank you. I promise to give you my answer very soon after I have thought about it."

-:-:-:-

Mikan stepped into the art room the following morning and noticed that the man's face was still blank in her art piece. She grabbed the paint brush and violently dipped it into the black paint.

"Do you think I'm stupid? You purposely did not turn up yesterday and you still got the guts to tell me that you love me. Your whatever work you have is much more important than me!"

The next moment, the black paint was splashed onto a particular spot which she had always wanted to aim at the most.

"Because of you, my life is in a mess..."

* * *

**I will be updating this story faster (like twice a week). The reason is because I will be quite busy for the next few months and I want to finish up this story as soon as possible. However, I will still continue to keep my other two stories going. I hope you guys don't mind it at all and hopefully, Chapter 12 will be updated by this Thursday. Thank you. :)  
**


	12. Chapter 12: Red

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 12: Red

_"Yes, what is it?"_

"I want to tell you this: I will never want to leave Mum."

_"So, are you trying to say you are rejecting my kind offer?" _

"Yes, sorry."

_"Does your mum know about the letter?"_

"No, she doesn't. I told her that there was nothing going on between us, not even about the letter."

_"But why? Have you forgotten about your mother's burden? Have you ever thought..."_

"I haven't and I will never forget it."

_"Mikan, I..."_

"Dad, I'm sorry. I love Mum more than you think and I know Mum will never think of me as a burden to take of."

_"No, listen! I..."_

'Beep!'

-:-:-:-

Natsume pressed the door bell and waited impatiently for Mikan to come out from her house. He heard loud tapping sounds coming from behind the door and finally, the door swung open, revealing Yuka in an apron.

"Good morning, Natsume-kun. Are you looking for Mikan?" Yuka asked.

Natsume nodded and Yuka sighed, "I'm sorry. She has left for school."

"What? Wait, why?" he cried. "She is supposed to walk to school with me every morning!"

"I don't know why she left so early today but it is her first time waking up from bed as soon as I called her up."

Before she could say anymore, Natsume turned around and walked away briskly.

When he had arrived at the school entrance, he angrily took out his handphone and called for Mikan. However, she did not pick up. He felt like strangling her again.

Just then, he saw Ruka walk past him while carrying a huge plastic bag. Natsume ran towards him and blocked his way, startling him.

"You! Do you know where Mikan is?" Natsume asked loudly and gave Ruka an accusing glare.

Ruka frowned at him and shook his head. Ignoring him further, he continued walking past him as he dragged the large bag on the floor.

"My Mikan leaves me alone! How can it be?" Natsume whined.

"Oh, be quiet," Ruka snapped. "She must be with Hotaru, idiot. She can't be tagging along with you all day long, right? Grow up a little, Hyuuga."

"What did you just say, little girl?"

"What did you just call me? I'm a male for goodness sake!"

"You little..."

"Hey," another voice cut in. "You two are very disruptive in the morning."

The boys turned around and saw Hotaru crossing her arms irritability.

Then, she eyed on Natsume and asked in a low voice, "Where is Mikan? I thought the two of you always walk to school together."

"How would I know? That girl said that Mikan is most probably with you!" Natsume shot back while pointing at Ruka.

Being insulted again, Ruka gritted his teeth and shook his fist behind Natsume's back.

"I have just arrived school so it is impossible for me to meet her," Hotaru explained and then thought deeply for a moment. "Maybe she is already in the classroom. Have you checked it?"

"Nope."

Hotaru nearly wanted to hit his head but instead, she said sarcastically, "Well done! You haven't even checked the classroom and you're already making a fuss. Brat!"

Natsume stuck his tongue out at her mockingly and walked away from them. He was going to the classroom to check if Mikan was really there. Unfortunately, when he entered the classroom, he did not see her at all. She was missing. When he was about to walk out of the classroom, someone grabbed hold of his hand tightly.

"Natsume-kun, where are you going?"

-:-:-:-

"Imai, I have to meet my senpai and pass this bag to him. I will see you and Mikan in the classroom," Ruka said and he hurried off.

Hotaru walked in the opposite direction into the school building. As she walked up the stairs, she was wondering if Mikan was really in the classroom. She must have a purpose for coming to school earlier than usual. What if she was in the art room? She could be there, Hotaru thought to herself. So, Hotaru decided to check there instead.

Hotaru walked along the empty corridor with many club rooms lined along it. It was creepy to walk there alone, especially when there were no club activities taking place. As she walked past the science clubroom, she inhaled deeply and held her breath. She was scared of that room because there were rumours about it being haunted. Many students had said that they did spot a skeleton walking around the room and sometimes, it would walk out from the room during nighttime.

She became aware of her surroundings. A light cold wind brushing against her skin could make her jump in fright. A slight movement of the curtains in the empty clubrooms could terrify her. She gave up. She just wanted to head back to her classroom. Maybe Mikan would be there. There was no way Mikan would be alone in this creepy area.

"Ahh!"

Hotaru jerked. She was sure somebody had just let out a scream or a cry. She gulped.

Just then, she heard a sliding sound of a door. She looked around her and she noticed a door was opened at the art room. She just stood there petrified. All types of wild imaginations came flooding into her mind, making her even more afraid. She cursed the rumours and those people who spread them.

All of a sudden, a shadow could be seen heading towards the door and slowly a person with disheveled long hair emerged from the room. Her uniform was stained with the colour red, even her hair had red fluid dripping off like blood.

"Hotaru?"

Hotaru stepped backwards. She could feel her heart pounding against her chest and cold sweat trickling down her forehead. She swore that scary looking girl had just called her name.

"Is that you?"

Hotaru frowned. That voice started to sound fairly familiar to her.

"Y... Yes," Hotaru stammered a reply.

"Hotaru, help me..."

The girl looked up and strands of her hair half of her blood stained face. If she had black hair instead of brown, Hotaru would confirm that 'Sadako' did exist.

The girl's bloody hand lifted up and touched her own messy hair. Then, she carefully put her fallen hair back behind her ears and instantly, Hotaru recognised her.

Covering her jittering mouth, she practically screamed, "Mikan, why are you covered in blood?"

-:-:-:-

"Here is the uniform," Hotaru said as she hung a new and clean set of uniform over the shower cubicle.

Mikan thanked her and reached for the uniform. After changing, Mikan stepped out of the cubicle and used a clean towel to dry her wet hair. She stuffed the stained uniforms into a plastic bag and kept them in her school bag.

"You scared me earlier on. What's with you spilling the red paint all over yourself?" Hotaru snorted.

Mikan laughed sheepishly, "I just tripped and the next thing I knew, a container fell off the table and the red paint spilled all over me."

"You're dangerously clumsy."

"Haha! I know."

"You have nearly made me believe that 'Sadako' did exist."

"You are funny! 'Sadako' doesn't have brown hair like mine."

"Let's say for once, I believed in mutated 'Sadako'," Hotaru giggled.

Mikan giggled along with her and at the same time, combing her hair.

Mikan spoke, "Luckily, our lesson starts half an hour later or else we will be late."

"Yeah, all thanks to you. Oh! What about the art room? The paint is still on the floor, aren't they?"

"Yes and I will clear up the mess after this since we still have the time."

"Let me help you too..."

'Ring... Ring...'

Hotaru paused and immediately took out her vibrating handphone.

"Yes?" Hotaru spoke and starting laughing. "Oh, really? Alright! I will join that. Thanks! Please help me to inform Miyazono-senpai as well too."

"Miyazono-senpai?" Mikan repeated questionably and looked at Hotaru.

Hotaru ended the call and cheered, "Yes! I'm taking part in the semifinals!"

"What happened? Did your club members call you?" Mikan asked.

Hotaru turned to look at Mikan apologetically and sighed, "Yes. And I'm sorry, Mikan. I have to see those friends of mine now."

"It's okay. I can help myself with the mess," Mikan reassured with a small smile.

Hotaru smiled back and ran out of the restroom. Mikan put down her comb and packed all her stuff into the bag. When she was prepared to leave the restroom, she took one last look at the mirror. The image was herself but it reflected a dark and gloomy feature. Mikan was very sure that she was smiling but the image showed otherwise. The image moved closer and a tear rolled down from its right eye.

Then, it opened its mouth and whispered softly in a sad and eerie tone, "It seems like your existence is nothing to all of them, Mikan Sakura."

Upon hearing that, Mikan fell onto her trembling knees and stared into the mirror for a very long time, as if she was being hypnotised by something real behind that thin, fragile and shiny silver coated layer of glass.

-:-:-:-

Mikan dragged her feet into the classroom and sat down. Hotaru was not back yet and Ruka was nowhere to be found. She shifted her head a little and noticed that Natsume was already in the classroom, sitting with his usual clique. However, he looked uneasy and insecure, which were both completely unusual to Mikan. She guessed that maybe because she did not tell him where she was in the morning and left for school very early.

"Natsume!" Mikan called out loudly to him and waved at him with a beam.

Natsume looked up and his face immediately brightened up upon seeing her face. He pushed his way in his crowd of friends and ran towards her.

He snorted, "Where were you? I was very worried for you, you know? I was so unlucky that I was stopped by that Koizumi girl and she even forced me to stay with her with those people."

Mikan looked at the pouting Luna and said, "It's okay. I was in the art room, doing some painting. By the way, I'm sorry for not telling you where I was."

"Yes, you better be sorry."

"Anyway, how are your new friends?"

"I think they are not bad after all. When I say I want something, they will give me that something. What do you think?" he answered arrogantly.

Mikan's smile faded. She looked at him with eyes of pain and she gritted her teeth.

"I think it is not great at all!" she raised her voice at him and when she realised that she had said it a little too loud, she immediately covered her mouth.

Natsume flinched and stumbled a few steps back.

"Why are raising your voice at me?" he mumbled in fear as he shivered. "You don't have to do that, right? You could have just said it nicely."

"I'm sorry," Mikan muttered and lowered her head.

She began to lament over her embarrassing action. She did not know why she had allowed her emotions to take over her actions.

"Hey, say that 'sorry' word a little louder!" one of the students from Natsume's clique jeered. "We want it louder than what you had just shouted at Natsume-kun."

Mikan looked up and saw those angry faces of that clique. She felt like crying. She felt like laughing too. She also felt like killing herself in front of them.

_Killing myself..._

When no word came out from her mouth, everyone began to jeer at her. She heard the jeers and the whispers of the bad rumours about her echoing in her mind. It felt so eerily familiar. It felt like she had flown to her past. This experience was somewhat the same as the last time.

_To kill myself... _

_All I need is a..._

She pulled down her school bag's zip forcefully and took out a pair of scissors. She held the scissors in front of herself and laughed hysterically.

The classroom became quiet and only her voice could be heard. Natsume stared at the scissors in horror and was speechless. Everyone was dumbfounded as well.

Mikan brought the scissors towards her neck. As it brought closer, her smirk became wider and wider.

Natsume stuttered, "N... No... D... Don't do it..."

And then the scissors snapped.

* * *

**Narumi will start appearing from the next chapter onwards. His significance in this story is the same as Luna Koizumi and Mikan's father as he plays a big role in Mikan's relationship with her friends (including Natsume).**

******I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 10 and 11. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! ****Lastly, ****I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)**


	13. Chapter 13: Sick

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 13: Sick

Narumi, the school nurse and counselor, placed a damped cloth over sleeping Mikan's forehead and took out a thermometer from her mouth.

"She's just having a fever. Please allow her to take a rest first," he said to Yuka who looked restless while sitting on a chair.

Yuka sniffed, "Sensei, I still don't understand what happened to her in class today!"

Narumi wiped the thermometer and replied with a shrug, "She did not kill herself, didn't she? It was fortunate that Hyuuga-san managed to push the scissors away and was ended up snapping her hair instead."

"Yeah, I know."

"One possible reason is that she was having a fever and wasn't thinking very rationally at that moment. You know, things might happen when you're sick."

"Even if so, she can't be behaving like this. I mean, it's abnormal..."

Shaking his head, Narumi interrupted her, "Please don't say that. Your daughter is fine. If she needs any help, she can always come to me and talk about her problem. After all, I'm the school's counselor."

Yuka looked at Narumi's assuring face and back at Mikan. She gripped Mikan's hand tightly and a tear rolled down her cheek. She knew Mikan was not fine at all. She had begun to act weirdly ever since she fell down from her apartment. Her condition also worsened since the day she had supposedly met her father.

Yuka stood up and walked towards the infirmary exit.

She bowed to Narumi and said, "I will leave Mikan under your care now. I got some work to do. Thank you."

"Leave her to me, Ma'am," Narumi said as he stuck his left thumb up while winking. "You can pick her up after you are done with your work."

Yuka rushed out from the infirmary and took out her handphone. She began rampaging through her contacts furiously. After finding what she had been looking for, she quickly pressed the call button.

-:-:-:-

Mikan found herself walking back home alone again.

_Sorry, __as you know, it is always my dream to play in a__ tournament event __so I have to do it__..._

_Sakura, as you can see, my senpai needs my help with the props again. You know, we are performing next month so..._

_Mikan, I think my new friends are so much better than you because I have never felt bored with them. I think you should improve on your sense of humour so that maybe I will..._

_It seems like your existence is nothing to all of them, Mikan Sakura._

Mikan cupped her ears and shivered. Those voices were haunting her again.

"Shut up! Shut up!" she cried repeatedly with tears in her eyes.

She unzipped her school bag and took out her scissors. She badly wanted those voices to stop. They were irritating and they were making her mad at each and every word they chanted in her head. She raised the scissors high and aimed the sharp point at her right thigh.

Stab!

The scissors pierced into her flesh and blood was oozing out fast. However, there was no pain at all. She could not feel a single pain at her thigh. She took out the scissors from her flesh and aimed at her thigh again.

Stab!

There was still no pain.

Stab!

She thought that she had lost her sense of touch.

Stab!

Blood was already spewing out from her wounds on her right thigh. Her face and uniform were stained by the colour red. Red used to be her favourite colour but this red fluid which flows through her arteries and veins seemed to be a different colour. It looked black to her.

Unfortunately, black is not a colour.

"Mikan-chan!"

Mikan removed the bloody scissors out from her wound and a fountain of red fluid appeared before her eyes. It looked painful but it was not. She felt nothing.

"Mikan-chan!"

Mikan finally looked up. She saw a small rugged doll lurching towards her. The doll's eyes were missing and filled with nothing but emptiness. Blood trickled down from its eye sockets like tears but its smile never ceased.

The doll looked like Mikan in many ways; both had long hazel brown hair, fair skin, oval-shaped face, the same unceasing smile and were bloodied.

"Mikan-chan!" the doll seemed to call out to her but the only weird thing was that its voice was surprisingly deep and manly.

The doll stopped right in front of her and the two of them stared at each other. She looked into its dark and empty sockets, and realised that even though the doll was eyeless, it was not blind. It could still see through her heart, soul and maybe even her entire being.

"Wake up," it spoke again. "Mikan-chan, you are struggling too hard. Wake up."

Mikan dropped her scissors and it landed on the floor with a soft thud. She stood up but fell into the ground again because of her weak and trembling legs.

The little doll extended its little hand to her and waited. Mikan was afraid. Why was the doll reaching out to her?

She hesitated for a moment and slowly brought her hand closer to the doll's hand. The distance between them gradually decreased until both index fingers touched each other.

Upon contact, a bright spark occurred between their fingers and the spark was so huge and dazzling. It was so bright that it engulfed everything within her sight. And the next moment when the light subsided, she realised that she was in a different place. The doll was no longer in front of her. Neither did her hand extend out trying to reach for the doll. She was staring straight at a man's face. He was a blonde and looked like a foreigner in a male nurse uniform.

"Mikan-chan, you're finally awake!" he said as he removed the warm damp cloth from her forehead.

Mikan's eyes roamed around the foreign room and then back to the blonde.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

The man soaked the cloth in iced water and without looking at her, he replied casually, "I'm the school's nurse and counselor, Narumi-sensei, and you are in the infirmary. You seemed to have a nightmare earlier on so I tried to wake you up countless of times."

"Oh, I see," Mikan mumbled. "It was a weird and scary dream. Imagine a world without physical pain and you are struggling to make your mental pain go away."

"Was that your dream?"

"Sort of."

"Are you having problems in school and at home?" Narumi asked worriedly while placing the cold and wet cloth on her forehead.

"No."

"Hmm... Maybe it is your fever which caused you to have weird dreams. Don't worry so much. Just rest and wait for your mother to pick you up," Narumi suggested.

Mikan placed her hand over her neck and it felt so hot. She was indeed having a high fever. Her hand traveled up to her hair. She felt something was amiss. Her hair on her left side seemed shorter than the right side.

"What happened to my hair?" Mikan cried loudly and began ruffling her own hair.

"You can't remember, right?" Narumi asked. "Actually, you cut your own hair out of impulse. I should say that it was your fever's fault."

Mikan sighed, "Fevers have no fault. They are non living things."

"Yeah, but bacterias and viruses are."

Mikan narrowed her eyes at Narumi and he just winked at her in response. She groaned and used the covers to cover her face to avoid looking at him.

Then, she heard the door swung open and footsteps came closer to the bed.

"Is Sakura all right?"

Mikan pulled the covers away from her face and saw Ruka standing near the foot of the bed. He was talking to Narumi with a worried look on his face too.

Narumi gave the boy a smile and replied, "She's still having a fever but she had just woken up from her sleep."

"Oh, thanks," Ruka heaved a sigh of relief and turned to face Mikan. "Good afternoon, Sakura."

"Good afternoon," she greeted back weakly. "Why are you here? Don't you have club activities?"

Ruka scratched the back of his head and answered, "I was on my way to the clubroom so I just drop by here to see how you are."

"Oh," she spoke softly and pursed her lips. "Where is Hotaru?"

Ruka shrugged and replied, "I don't know where she has gone to but I am very sure she will pay you a visit later."

Mikan smiled at him and he returned her a smile with a light pink hue on his cheeks. Narumi raised one of his eyebrows at the young lad and tried to hide his smirk.

Suddenly, another person dashed into the room and shouted, "Mikan!"

Mikan jumped at the call but immediately calmed down when she saw Hotaru running towards her and embraced her into a hug.

"You have scared the hell out of me, Mikan!" she cried and let go of Mikan. "You were acting all weird!"

Mikan laughed sheepishly, "I'm sorry. It was just a fever. I think I'm fine now."

Hotaru sniffed and took a look at the clock which was hanging on the wall.

She let out a soft gasp before splitting out fast, "Sorry, I need to go now! I have to help out with the trainings. See you later!"

Before Mikan could say anything, Hotaru ran away. Ruka looked at Mikan's face as it began to show signs of sadness and loneliness. He studied her face until Narumi broke the silence.

"I think Sakura-san needs some rest now," Narumi said as he gave Ruka a smirk. "You may leave now. Anyway, I think you have club activities going on too."

Mikan looked up and gazed at Ruka. Ruka gulped and slowly nodded. For some reason, he hated the way Narumi smirked at him. He croaked his head and looked at Mikan from the corner of his eyes. Like what he had expected, she was giving him a strange look as if to tell him that she wanted him to stay with her.

But it was impossible for him to do so. His performance was drawing near and he had to leave.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. Imai and I will visit you later," he finally spoke. "I promise."

He bit his lips and walked out from the infirmary without even seeing her last expression. What was her last expression? He wondered to himself.

Narumi closed the door behind him and chuckled. He sat down next to the bed and took out his notebook.

"Mikan Sakura from Class 1C," he started reading something from the book. "Parents had divorced."

Upon hearing this, Mikan glared at him but he just continued as if oblivious to his surroundings, "A victim of bullying in elementary school. Tried to commit suicide before. Admitted to hospital not long ago due to an accident and has amnesia."

"What are you getting at?" Mikan grunted uncomfortably. "I don't remember getting bullied and trying to commit suicide."

He leaned forward and his eyes seemed to burn into hers. His grin did not vanish either.

"Your memories," he whispered as he placed his index finger on her forehead. "They are altered as well. I wonder, how is that so?"

"My... My memories are not altered or lost!" she shot back angrily and irritability.

This man knew too much about her, but how did he know all about these? Who told him?

"You know, I am a counselor whom you could share your problems with," Narumi's voice softened as he straightened his back up. "Judging by the situation earlier on, I know what your current problem is."

Intrigued by his comment, Mikan stared at him silently with a frown. She waited for quite some time before he continued.

"The problem is about your friends..."

* * *

**Hi! For those who are celebrating the Lunar New Year, I wish you a Happy Lunar New Year (祝你们新年快乐！恭喜发财！万事如意****！**岁岁平安 ！年年有馀！身体健康！学业进步！)! \㋛/ \㋡/ **Yay!  
**

**********I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 12. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! ****Lastly, ****I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. **ت**************  
**


	14. Chapter 14: Counsel

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 14: Counsel

The sound of the sliding door made him smile. He knew she would come to see him again. He heard them all. He could hear her internal cries and screams of sadness and bitterness in her heart whenever she was with him though she had never mentioned about her internal feelings. After all, she was a good actor and a perfect liar.

"How's going, Sakura-san?" he spoke without bothering to look at the door entrance to see who it was.

Anyway, he knew who the person was. Waiting for a response from the person, he continued to stir the cup of freshly-brewed hot coffee in his hands. He heard footsteps walking into the room and then a sound of someone slumping on a couch could be heard too.

"Good afternoon, Narumi-sensei," Mikan spoke tiredly. "I was just wondering if I could stay here for awhile before heading back to classes afterwards."

Narumi finally turned around and replied with a warm smile, "Sure. Do you want some coffee? It will get rid of your tiredness and give you alertness for your next lessons."

Mikan hesitated for awhile but gladly accepted his offer. So he placed the cup of coffee which he had been stirring on the small table in front of her. Mikan thanked him and took a small sip of the coffee.

"So, what makes you want to come here? If I am not wrong, this is your second time here," Narumi questioned as he grabbed a wooden chair and sat down.

"It's nothing much. It just that... Mum told me that she had told you everything about me," Mikan replied.

"Yes, it is. So?"

Mikan looked at him and then chuckled, "Nothing! At first, I thought you were some stalker..."

"What?" Narumi yelled in embarrassment and then coughed. "By the way, is that what you want to talk to me about?"

"What do you mean by that?" Mikan stared at him blankly.

He frowned and replied, "I'm pretty sure that there is something you want to tell me."

Mikan bit her lips and shivered. She was not cold but it was just that her body muscles kept shivering on their own. Looking away, she drank another sip of the coffee before placing the cup back on the table.

"Sensei, thanks for drink! I need to head for class now. Bye!" she said as she waved her hands at him as if she was defending herself in some sort of way and quickly left the infirmary.

Narumi raised his eyebrows again and relaxed for awhile. He picked up the cup and threw the remaining coffee into the basin. After washing the cup, he wiped it dry and kept it in a small cupboard.

He walked over to his table and picked up a photograph of a girl. His finger ran over the surface, as if trying to caress her face, and chuckled to himself. He carefully brought the photo closer to his lips and kissed it gently.

"Mikan-chan, oh Mikan," he muttered and then he slipped the photo into his beloved folder.

-:-:-:-

'Ring! Ring!'

"Hello?"

_"Sakura-san, there's a lady looking for you and she's waiting outside for you." _

"Who is the lady?"

_"Yuka Azu..." _

"Oh, what does she want?"

_"Sorry, Sir. She said she wanted to talk things clear about her daughter..."_

"Hmm, sure. Tell her to wait for at least a minute. Thanks."

_"Alright." _

'Beep!'

-:-:-:-

"You wouldn't believe it, Mikan. Our team got into the finals! Wish us good luck!" Hotaru chirped happily and did a thumb up sign.

Mikan looked at her delightedly and beamed.

"Good luck!" Mikan said and did a thumb up sign too.

Ruka rested his head on his hands and spoke, "Good luck too, Imai. Please bring glory to our school."

"Of course, we will," Hotaru said confidently. "Nogi, how's your preparation for your drama performance going about?"

"It's fine. What about Sakura?"

"It's fine as well," Mikan assured with another beam.

Then, there was silence. The three of them began scribbling away with their group work. Misaki walked past them and lifted up Mikan's paper to see what she had written on it.

After seeing it, Misaki asked in a rather disgruntled tone at her, "I don't remember teaching you that active transport does not require energy. It requires energy for the molecules to move up the concentration gradient from a region of a lower concentration to a region of a higher concentration. Furthermore, active transport does not take place in the stomach. Your answer should have been small intestine or the ileum."

"I... I'm sorry!" Mikan squeaked and tried to take back her paper.

"Wait!" Misaki continued and clutched onto the paper tightly. "Does amylase catalyse protein? I don't think so, Sakura-san. And lipase doesn't catalyse enterokinase. It's totally absurd, Sakura-san."

"What? They don't?" Mikan sounded surprise and looked sheepishly at Hotaru and Ruka. "So, does amylase catalyses fats? Or maybe it catalyses fibrinogen?"

Hotaru raised her eyebrows in shock. She could not believe that Mikan could not answer those biology questions. It had never been that case before. Mikan was extremely good in Science when she was in elementary school; she used to be one of the top five scorers for Science. Not only that, she was one of the top three scorers for Mathematics. Plus, she came in top for all her Humanities subjects. Even during the bully incident, her results became average and to be honest, she was still in the top twenty range overall throughout the cohort.

Therefore, it was impossible for Mikan to make these types of mistakes unless her memory had really deteriorated from that apartment incident.

"Mikan, since when does fibrinogen come into the topic of the digestive system?" Hotaru queried. "I thought it is in the topic of circulatory system."

Misaki nodded and chided, "Imai-san, you're right. Sakura-san, please pay more attention in class. I want to see you after school today."

Mikan looked down and nodded quietly. Her paper was handed back to her and Misaki walked away to check on other pupils. While canceling her wrong answers, Hotaru stopped her.

"What happened, Mikan?" Hotaru asked gently. "Didn't we learn these before last year?"

Refusing to look up, she shook her head and mumbled, "Sorry, I forgot."

After correcting her answers, she stood up and headed to the restroom alone with Misaki's permission.

-:-:-:-

Yuka paced impatiently at the informative counter. Ten minutes had passed but that man had not appeared yet. Didn't he instruct her to wait for him in a few minutes?

Where was that freak?

Suddenly, a melodious ringtone was played and echoed loudly.

Yuka immediately fished out her handphone and answered anxiously, "Hello, Yuka's speaking."

_"It's me, Yuka-san." _

"Uh-ha! I thought you would meet me face to face. Who knows you would give me a call? Are you afraid to meet me directly?"

_"What are talking about? I was busy and my office is quite far away. It will take a long time for me to walk over to the informative counter." _

"Yeah, you're right. You are always right. Haha!" Yuka taunted and then made a hideous noise, followed by a fake cough. "Don't make me laugh, Sir. I am vomiting right now."

_"What do you want, woman? Make it snappy because I've got things to do." _

"Sakura-sama," she mocked again. "What did you say to your daughter during your meeting with her?"

_"Nothing..." _

"Say it! No hiding!" Yuka deliberately shouted through the phone.

_"Seriously, are you drunk? I said nothing to her! What's up with her? Did she say something weird to you?" _

"Firstly, I'm not drunk. Secondly, she did not say anything to me," she bellowed. "Thirdly, she was acting weird ever since she met you that day."

_"Are you twisting some facts about her?"_

"What do you mean?"

_"According to you before, she has already been acting weird ever since that incident when that Hyuuga boy accidentally pushed her down the building. Woman, stop trying to push all the blame to me. She is your daughter too. Please, I beg you, think before you start pointing fingers at me." _

"Hey Sakura-dono, I should be the one saying this to you, right?" Yuka yelled furiously again. "You are Mikan's biological father!"

_"So, does that mean I have the right to be pointed at?" _

There was silence.

_"Listen here, Yuka-san. To tell you the truth, on that day, I actually..." _

-:-:-:-

After stepping out from the restroom, Mikan strolled along the hallway. Her facial expression showed nothing and did not reflect any feelings she was feelings right at that moment. It was unreadable.

"Sakura-san?"

Mikan continued walking ahead.

"Sakura-san?"

She kept dragging her feet forward.

"Mikan Sakura-san!"

Mikan jerked. She slowly turned around and saw Narumi standing quite far away behind her with a mug of strong fragrant aromatic black tea in his hand.

Stunned, she stuttered softly, "Na... Na... Narumi-sen... sensei!"

Narumi looked at her worriedly and asked, "My dear, why aren't you in class right now? You are skipping lessons, right?"

"N... No! I just went to the restroom!" she defended.

"Oh, I see," Narumi mumbled and suddenly, something caught his attention.

It was her eyes. They were red and sore as if she had been crying really hard a moment ago.

"Were you crying?"

Mikan looked down almost immediately.

"No."

"Liar. Who do you think I am?" Narumi chuckled and walked towards her. "Please come inside and take a seat first."

He placed his hand on her left shoulder and led her inside the infirmary. Mikan sat on the couch and fiddled with her fingers while Narumi poured some hot water into a small cup. A mild fragrant filled the air, making Mikan feel lighter than before.

"Sakura-san, please have a cup of valerian root tea. It will help you with your anxiety and calm you down," Narumi said as he placed the cup on the table. "As you drink it, please feel free to tell me what happened to you. I promise I will not tell anyone."

Remaining silent, Mikan brought the cup close to her nose and breathed in the sweetly scented aroma. She could feel the tension in her slowly being loosen up and her lips unknowingly formed into a small smile.

The smile was real, unlike the previous ones in the hospital, restaurant, school, and at home.

Carefully taking a sip of the tea, she realised that the mild bitterness and sweetness of the valerian root tea was forcing something out of her. She was unsure what that feeling was and tried to control it. The pain and sadness she held for a long time was stuck at her throat. Her throat was in pain and it was telling her that it wanted to be free or at ease.

But she was controlling it.

She took another sip of the tea, trying to relief the tension at her throat but it was to no avail. The tea was too strong for her. Mikan tried opening her mouth but no voice came out. She was still controlling it. However, her hands began to shake uncontrollably, together with the cup.

Narumi chuckled at the sight of it and sighed amusingly, "I was always wondering... what if there were no such thing as the tournament and the drama performance? That means they were just making excuses to stay away from you. Besides, I have seen them countless of times enjoying themselves with their new found friends."

'Crash!'

The cup smashed on the tiled floor and the tea spilled everywhere. Narumi got a shock but immediately calmed down.

"A... Ah... A... Ah..." Mikan's voice fumbled and her hands pressed against the sides of her head.

Her tears came pouring down and her voice finally came out but it was only a bawling sound.

Narumi frowned and said in a soft voice, "Don't cry anymore, little girl. Everyone has to be strong, even though there are times when everyone decides to turn their backs against you. I don't get it at all. Natsume Hyuuga said that he loves you but he has left to join his new friends. What do you have left now?"

All of a sudden, her crying stopped. The whole room became quiet and only the sound of the air conditioner running could be heard. Narumi turned to look at Mikan and smiled again.

Her eyes were closed and her body was leaning against the couch. A drop of tear slowly rolled down her right cheek and stained her uniform.

She was asleep and it was a very deep sleep.

* * *

**********Hi! Thanks for reading up to Chapter 14. I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 13. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! ****Lastly, ****I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)  
**

******************Don't forget to leave a review too. ;)**


	15. Chapter 15: Painted Pictures

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 15: Painted Pictures

Yuka stormed into her apartment and slammed the door hard. She held the two bottles of liquor tightly under her palms and kicked her sandals out from her feet. She walked to the living room and slumped herself onto the sofa. After prying open the metal cap, she filled her mouth with alcohol and let out a deep and heavy sigh.

"Is there a saying called 'like father, like daughter'?" she muttered under her breath. "Argh! So annoying! Why did the two of them keep quiet about this? Especially Mikan, she should have told me that her so-called father had tried to convince her to live with him. Worst of all, she had seen his new wife! Mikan must be traumatized!"

She stopped her rants and took another gulp of alcohol.

"At least," she continued in a softer voice. "Mikan still chose me, even though she knew I could not provide for her much. She is the greatest daughter."

Suddenly, she heard the door was being unlocked and footsteps entering the apartment. Yuka stood up and walked slowly to the foyer to greet her daughter. Anyway, she knew it was her.

"Mikan, welcome back home! How's school?" she asked with a grin on her face.

Mikan removed her shoes and replied tiredly, "Hello, Mum. Today is fine but I am a little tired so please allow me to take a nap first. Later!"

Before Yuka could say anything, Mikan ran past her and into her bedroom. Yuka returned to her sofa and rested on it before indulging herself more alcohol to relief her frustration and worries.

-:-:-:-

"Mikan, wake up!" Yuka shouted as she burst into Mikan's bedroom. "Natsume is already waiting for you outside!"

Mikan stretched her arms and sat up.

Rubbing her eyes, she asked, "Is it dinner time? Why is Natsume eating with us?"

Yuka scratched her forehead and laughed foolishly, "It is already morning. Sorry that you have to miss dinner last night. I was drunk and I fell asleep right after that until now."

Mikan sighed and got out of bed, "It's okay. I hope you can stop drinking alcohols and stuffs like those. You will have liver cancer before you hit old age."

"I know but it is already a habit," Yuka mumbled. "Anyway, hurry up before Natsume begins to throw his tantrums."

Yuka walked out from her room while Mikan head to the bathroom to wash herself up. After getting ready, she ran to the kitchen for a quick breakfast. She gulped down her cup of milk and then grabbed two slices of bread before heading out.

"Good morning, Natsume!" she chirped and walked next to him.

Natsume frowned and snorted, "I have waited for you for more than ten minutes. Did you oversleep?"

"Y... Yes," she replied with her mouth full of bread. "I'm sorry."

"You better be."

Then, there were silence. Mikan swallowed the bread and drank some plain water while Natsume was biting his lips uncomfortably.

He spoke, "Hey, I'm sorry about the last time, on behalf of those noisy people."

"Who? Wait, why are you apologising to me?" Mikan asked.

"Do you remember that time when our classmates called you to apologise to me but in the end, you tried to kill yourself in front of them?"

Mikan stared at him questionably and giggled.

"Did it happen? I think I have forgotten. Pardon me. In any case, I accept your apology if you and those people are really sincere. Since they wanted me to apologise to you as well, I guess I have to say sorry to you too," Mikan said. "Natsume, I'm sorry."

Natsume blushed and he immediately turned to look elsewhere. Somehow, he felt different about her. In fact, she was different and he could tell it.

Mikan was different from usual.

"A... Apology... a... accepted!" he blurted. "But it is only for today! If you shout at me in the future, I will not let you go easily."

"I... I shouted at you? How come?"

"Did you really forget?" he began to ask worriedly. "You know, I should be the one asking you 'how come'. Why are you becoming more forgetful than the last time?"

Mikan shrugged and mumbled, "How would I know? Maybe..."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe the real Mikan has died."

-:-:-:-

"I'm worried for Mikan. She did not come back after going to the restroom and I bet Misaki-sensei is going to give her a piece of his mind later on," Hotaru groaned.

Ruka tried to reassure her, "Don't worry too much. I'm sure Misaki-sensei will listen to her reason, if she has."

Hotaru lowered her head and muttered, "She has been acting really weird nowadays, especially after that incident. If that Natsume guy did not push her so hard, Mikan will not land up in this state."

Suddenly, Hotaru stopped walking and pointed at the four canvases which were arranged in a straight line next to a garbage bin. All of them were covered with white cloths. Ruka noticed them too. Curiosity got the better of them as they approached the canvases and pulled the first cover down, revealing an art piece. At the bottom of the art piece was Mikan's signature which showed that Mikan was the artist.

Hotaru recognised the picture almost instantly. It was a portrait of a family and in fact, she could tell it was Mikan's family. The taller woman was Yuka while the shorter one was Mikan. However, next to the Mikan and Yuka was a man. Though his face was splashed with black paint, she could still tell that man was definitely Mikan's father. The picture looked normal but it was the man's face which destroyed the beauty of the picture.

Then, Ruka lifted another cloth from the second canvas and revealed a painted picture of a girl with a broken wing. She was crying but the eerie thing was- she was smiling. The smile seemed fake and forced. The background was red in colour. On closer inspection, Hotaru noticed that the one-winged girl was actually looking at three birds in the sky. Her left hand was outreached, trying to reach for the birds. It was a sad picture as it seemed as though the birds had left the girl alone.

After that, the third picture was revealed too. It was a simple oil painted art piece. It was a picture of three dancing human figurines- a female and two males. They were dancing gracefully on the pond water. The colour of the pond was not ordinary. It had a mixture of red, black and white streaks painted on the pond. It looked sombre but at the same time, graceful.

Finally, the last picture was revealed. It was painted halfway but it had been fully sketched out in pencil. This picture was more eerie than the previous one. It depicted a rugged doll which looked exactly like Mikan. Its eyes were red. Even its tears were red which probably caused its cheeks to be stained red in colour. Its mouth was opened in an oval shape, as if calling out for someone. Furthermore, its hands were reached out forward, as if reaching out to someone in front of her. But no one was in front of it because the doll was facing the front.

It was so obvious that Mikan was the one who drew the remaining three pictures as they had her signature signed at the bottom of the art pieces.

Ruka disliked the last picture. It seemed alive. The rugged doll seemed to be alive. For some reason, he felt himself trying to touch that picture, especially the painted hands of the doll. It seemed as if the doll was calling and reaching out for him. However, he tried to control himself and tried to decipher what Mikan was trying to hint in these four pictures.

"Don't cry! I won't leave you ever again!" Hotaru cried out all of a sudden and quickly reached her hands out to touch the doll's hands.

Ruka and the passers-by got shocked by her sudden outburst. Ruka immediately ran towards Hotaru and pulled her away from the picture.

"Snap out of it, Imai!" he shouted as he managed to drag Hotaru far away from it.

After calming down, Hotaru looked around her and noticed that a few unknown students were covering all the pictures back with the cloths. She felt weird and somehow she seemed to have forgotten something.

"Wh... What happened?" Hotaru mumbled and rubbed her head in confusion.

"These pictures are cursed. You nearly became one of them until that blonde boy saved you," a girl answered.

"I don't understand you at all. What do you mean that those pictures are cursed? They are drawn by Mikan!" Hotaru retorted but immediately stopped by Ruka.

"The last picture seems to call out to the people who look at it. Somehow, I felt that the picture was alive and I was nearly drawn to it, just like you did earlier on. I think it is the best to destroy them secretly..."

"No way! Those pictures are drawn by Mikan! If you do that, she will be upset!" Hotaru interrupted.

"Upset or not, we still have to do it. We have heard many complains about art club members being hypnotised by these drawings. As the President of the Student Council Community, I have taken them out of the art room and placed them here so that the authorities will removed these evil masterpieces by today," a boy said proudly.

Hotaru fell onto her knees and said nothing while Ruka just looked down and sighed. Both of them wanted to help Mikan but they could not.

Would she accept that her art pieces have to be destroyed without her permission?

First and foremost, why did she paint those creepily beautiful pictures?

Where was the real Mikan who used to draw innocently beautiful pictures?

-:-:-:-

"Where are you going, Mikan?" Natsume asked huskily. "You are not going to leave me alone, are you?"

"Of course not," Mikan let out a soft laughter. "I'm heading to the restroom for awhile. Meet you in the classroom!"

Then, she scrambled off. It was a lie. Of course, she was not heading to the restroom.

She wanted to complete that final artwork.

_Draw me and I will stay with you._

_Complete me and I will never leave you._

_Finish the final touch up and I will..._

"What are you guys doing here?" Mikan asked while standing by the entrance of the art room.

She saw Ruka and Hotaru standing inside the art room with their arms crossed at the chests while glaring at her. However, that was not the problem. Her art pieces were missing.

"Where are my masterpieces?" Mikan shouted as she ran inside the room and began searching for them frantically. "I have to finish up the final piece. _He_ is waiting for me!"

"Stop it, Sakura. They are cursed and have been removed by the Student Council Community."

"Where are they now? I will retrieve them back," Mikan grabbed onto Ruka's shoulders and shook him a little.

"I... don't know... Anyway, they are cursed and we can't do anything about it. We understand that you have put in a lot of harkwork to create those art pieces but we... just can't..."

Mikan swallowed and retorted angrily, "They are not cursed! They are drawn by me! They are definitely not cursed!"

"Mikan!" Hotaru called out, catching her attention. "Please listen to us. It is for your own good!"

Ruka nodded quietly.

Mikan cried, "No! I have to complete the last one. It is very important to me."

Mikan took out a new canvas and lay out a new piece of cloth and newspaper. She sat down and started sketching on the drawing block. Hotaru closed her eyes in defeat and began sobbing hopelessly. She did not understand what was going on in Mikan's mind and why she was behaving so weirdly lately either. Ruka was at a loss of words too.

It was quiet and awkward as none of them talked.

Finally, Ruka spoke out, "Sakura, I have always wanted to ask you a question."

"What is it?" Mikan asked angrily while preparing a mixture of yellow and a tiny drop of black paint on a platelet.

"I have been wondering if..."

He paused.

"I mean, is your memories really altered? You still do remember the exact past, don't you? Please stop lying and acting anymore!"

'Thud!'

The platelet fell onto the floor and the brown paint spilled all over white tiles. Mikan's head hung low and her fringe covered the top part of her face.

"What makes you think so?" she asked monotonously.

"In fact, I've suspected it since the time you were eating the apple I peeled for you in the hospital but I trusted you so I kept quiet about it. What makes me really think you are lying was when you started to allow your emotions to get a better of you, thus making your acting more obvious. Whenever you were talking about your father and Natsume, you showed your fear and anxiety. Your looks seemed to be tortured and demented but these occurred only for a moment before you replaced them with a smile. Am I right, Sakura?"

Hotaru looked at Mikan worriedly. She did not believe a word Ruka had just said. She hoped everything was a lie and Mikan would prove him wrong with whatever possible proofs she had.

But she was wrong.

Mikan looked up and grinned at the two of them. Her tears were rolling down her rosy cheeks and they dripped onto her blouse.

"Yes..."

* * *

**Note:  
Due to my busy schedule, I may update my stories slightly later. I have been really busy since the start of February but am trying to update my stories punctually as promised. However, from next week onwards, I may be on hiatus for two weeks (except for weekends) due to my studies. I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused.  
**

******************Before you leave this page, don't forget to leave a review! Thank you! ;)**


	16. Chapter 16: Impulse

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 16: Impulse

Yuka wore her blouse and long pants, preparing to go to work after Mikan had left for school. She opened the door and suddenly, she realised that she had left her keys in Mikan's room while tidying her bed. It was not Mikan's fault for not tidying her bed before leaving the house because if she did, she would be late for school. Not only her, but so did Natsume.

She entered into the bedroom and searched high and low in her room. Where could she possibly drop her keys on?

Then, she spotted a silver chain of keys on Mikan's messy table so she walked towards it and grabbed it.

"Geez! I will tell her to clean up her table as well," Yuka sighed and turned around.

Just then, something caught her attention. It was a little red book which was among the messy piles of papers and assignment books. Curious, she picked it up and flipped it open. There were many writings or should she say, scribbles by Mikan. It looked like a diary and it really was. Yuka knew that reading other people's diary was a wrong thing to do but to find out more about her daughter's strange behaviour; she had to invade her privacy. She knew the consequences very well and she was prepared for them if Mikan were to find out.

She flipped to the last entry which was written the day before.

_XX-XX-XXXX _

_Dear Diary, _

_Apparently, today is weird. I think Misaki-sensei is being too harsh on me. I don't get him at all. In fact, we are supposed to discuss the work in groups but Ruka and Hotaru seemed like they are not interested to share their answers with me. I spoke to them and they just shrugged, saying that they should be the one asking me. Hey, I thought Hotaru was the one whom we should ask about our questions. _

_Fine, I know. I bet you know it too. They dislike me. _

_Nobody likes me in the first place. I can guarantee that Natsume dislikes me too. He is just pretending that he is still overly-obsessive with me, but I know that he prefers his new clique to me. It is pretty obvious. Argh! Just forget about him. Writing about him will give me goosebumps. You know, Natsume used to be very protective over me. He even dared to threaten me when I wanted to go the festival, together with Hotaru and Ruka. _

_He was scary, but not now. He is changing and I am glad. He is no longer as psychotic as he used to be. _

_Well, I went to look for Narumi-sensei today. He knows my worries and tried to help me. He gave me some sort of tea and I began crying. The next moment I knew, I found myself in the art room. I looked at the time and realised that Misaki-sensei's lesson was over. I looked at my four art pieces on the canvas. As I told you before, the last piece was a picture of that rugged doll in my dream. Anyway, it was fully sketched so I decided to paint it. _

_After painting it halfway, my eyes began to close. Yes, I skipped today's club activities and headed for home. So here I am, writing this entry to you before I go to bed. _

_So, let's end here. Goodbye! _

_Love,  
Mikan S._

Yuka flipped to the previous few entries and skimmed through them. She was confused and wanted to find out more. She felt that there was something missing or totally wrong. She did not know what it was but it was just a feeling.

Then, she saw another entry which was written after her discharge from the hospital.

_XX-XX-XXXX _

_Dear Diary, _

_Finally, I am discharged from the hospital. Last week, during the day of my school festival, Natsume refused to let me go to the festival so I was forced to stay at home. Mum was not helping me at all. It was sad but she had no choice either. I owed him a lot. _

_After it seemed like eternity, Hotaru and Ruka came to my rescue. Haha, it sounds like I was the captive, Natsume was the villain while Hotaru and Ruka were the heroes. Anyway, we tried to talk to Natsume or maybe beseech him to let me go. However, he was too stubborn to listen to us. Suddenly, he just snapped and decided to commit suicide right before our eyes. Unfortunately, while we were trying to stop him, he accidentally pushed me out of the window and that was how I landed in the hospital. Luckily, I just had a head injury and sprained my ankle. It was a miracle! _

_I can't wait to go to school with Natsume too! In the hospital, I told him that he should attend school and make new friends. This way, I know he would stop his tormenting rules over me. _

_Oh yeah, I lied to him as well. In fact, I lied to everyone, even to the doctors and Mum. I said that I remembered Natsume is my best friend and we enjoyed playing together with Hotaru and Ruka. And so on. What other choice do I have? It is my only way to get rid of Natsume's scary rules and obsession. I am going to make use of this opportunity to persuade him to stop clinging onto me. _

_No, I don't hate him. It is for his own good. Not only his, but also mine. _

_As for Mum, Hotaru and Ruka, I am going to continue my act in front of them. I know I am a bad actress but I have to act. Even if it takes me to become a dumb person on the surface, I will act as one. _

_As for now, I will see how it goes first. I hope nobody will find out about my lie. If someone is going to read this diary, everything might be revealed. Or maybe, if someone who can see through my acting, he or she might spread it to others and I will be doomed by then. _

_Sigh... I got to stop here now. Good night! _

_Love,  
Mikan S._

Yuka closed the diary and broke into tears. She placed the diary back on the table and grabbed a tissue paper to wipe her tears away. She felt upset and slightly angry as she had never knew that her daughter was lying and acting, but yet she could not blame her for doing so.

She had also never known that her daughter could be like her father. She had always thought of her as a simple, gullible, meek and innocent girl but who knew what was going on in that little head of hers?

_He is a scheming man!_

Yes, Mikan was just like him.

-:-:-:-

"Mikan, please say that you are lying!"

"Hotaru, I'm not," Mikan said. "Whatever Ruka had just said is true."

Hotaru covered her face in agony, trying to decide if she should believe in Mikan's words.

"Mikan," Hotaru cried. "Why? There must be a reason for doing that. Do you know how it feels to be lied to? It hurts!"

Mikan looked down and bit her lips. She took one last look at that half-way sketched rugged doll picture and carefully covered it with the white cloth.

"I know how you feel," Mikan muttered.

Hotaru continued to speak in between sobs, "So, why did you do that? You could have told us the truth. I really thought that your memories are altered or whatsoever."

Mikan opened her mouth, "I..."

All of a sudden, the school bell rang, signaling the start of school. Mikan grabbed her schoolbag and walked out of the classroom, leaving her two friends and the mess behind in the art room.

Ruka helped Hotaru to stand on her feet and both of them picked up their schoolbags. After walking out of the art room, they remained silent and Hotaru was still wiping her tears away.

"Nogi, you could have told me about it too," she snapped accusingly.

Ruka frowned and retorted, "Stop pushing all the blame to me, Imai! I was just suspecting her at first so I wanted to confirm about it today."

Hotaru glared at him and argued back, "I was not! And you could have told me about your suspicion!"

"Geez! I don't get you at all!" he yelled.

"Don't yell at me!" she hissed.

"I'm not..."

"Hey Natsume, don't you think Sakura-san is a little too irritating or, should I say, dominating? You should stop caring about her, you know," a voice interrupted him.

Ruka stopped and looked up. Hotaru did the same too. They saw Mikan standing outside the classroom. Her hand was touching the sliding door, as if deciding to whether should she slide open it or not.

"Mikan is not like that..." another voice which sounded like Natsume said.

"Oh, come on! You are always looking out for her but what did she do to you in return? Remember what happened a few days ago? She shouted at you for no reason! What an ungrateful person she is!"

"No, she is..."

Those voices came from the classroom and it was obvious that those bad-mouthings came from Natsume's clique while Natsume was trying to defend for Mikan. It was no wonder that Mikan did not want to enter into the classroom.

Hotaru ran up to Mikan and called out, "Mikan! Don't listen to them!"

Mikan looked at Hotaru with wide eyes and muttered something shakily under her breath which no one could hear her.

"Narumi-sensei...what... should I... do?"

Then, a voice from the classroom could be heard again, "Natsume, do you know that Sakura-san might not want you to be with us? She is selfish..."

_Mikan, you should just slap them in their faces... _

_Slap them and they will shut up..._

Ignoring Hotaru's advice, Mikan slid open the door and glared menacingly at Natsume. Natsume flinched at first but he slowly lifted his hands to wave at her.

"Hello Mikan," he greeted with a small and unsure smile.

Mikan clenched her fists and shouted, "Listen up, everyone! Let me tell you the truth about Natsume Hyuuga. He is a jerk. A selfish, idiotic, mentally sick, disgusting, lunatic and a psychotic loner. I hate him to the core!"

Luna, one of his friends, protested angrily, "Hey, watch your mouth! I think those words fit you perfectly."

Everyone laughed.

Natsume trembled and asked, "Why do you hate me? What did I do? I love you, Mikan."

"Shut up!" Mikan cried. "Just leave me alone!"

Mikan turned around and ran away fast. Hotaru wanted to give chase but was, unfortunately, stopped by Ruka. He shook his head, signaling Hotaru to leave her alone for awhile to calm herself down.

Meanwhile, Mikan ran out of the campus and headed back home.

* * *

**********Hi! Thanks for reading up to Chapter 16. I would like to thank those who had reviewed Chapter 15. Thanks for all those encouragements. Hope to hear more from you again! ****Lastly, ****I would also like to thank those who had story alerted and favourited this story. :)  
**

******************Good news! There is a chance that I may update my stories next week! I have just found out a way to use the internet there!**

******************Don't forget to leave a review too. ;)**


	17. Chapter 17: Tears

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 17: Tears

"Sakura-san, how do you make yourself work hard?"

"By thinking of my father."

"Oh, so why do you work hard?"

"Because of my father."

"I see. What did your father say to you to make you work hard?"

"He didn't say anything."

"What a good girl! Well, what kind of feelings do you have now after realising that you are the top in the whole cohort?"

"Dad..."

"Da... De... Dead?"

"I want my father back," the young brunette smiled and said cheerfully.

-:-:-:-

"Excuse me. Are you crying?"

A pair of glittering amber eyes looked straight up at the pair of hazel ones and the boy snorted, "As if I am."

"Oh, what is your name? I'm Mikan Sakura."

"Natsume."

"Natsume? What is your family name then?"

"Hyuuga."

The young girl looked excited and continued, "Hyuuga-san, it's nice to meet you! Hope we can be friends!"

"Friends? You are kidding me. Nobody wants to be friends with me because I am a hardcore nerd."

"I... I am a newbie nerd then!"

"Go away. You will be the next one to sabotage me. Do you think I'm stupid? Everyone has a motive and that includes you and me."

"Hyuuga-san, I..."

"Go away."

The brunette listened to him obediently and left without a word.

-:-:-:-

"Have you heard about Natsume Hyuuga-san? He is such a loner. I've heard that all his friends ditched him because he is too clever. I guess nobody likes prodigies like him."

"Hyuuga-san must be very lonely..."

"Shut up, Mikan-chan. He deserves it anyway."

"I... I will talk to him for awhile. See you guys later!" the brunette said as she ran off to look for that boy.

-:-:-:-

"You are crying again."

The familiar pair of amber eyes looked at her hazel eyes and he immediately growled, "I'm not crying! I'm a boy! Go away!"

"Boys cry too, you know. Even men cry as well."

"Go away!"

"Hyuuga-san, let's be friends."

"Remove that grin from your face."

"Do you have a problem with my smile?"

"Yes, so go away now."

"Let's be friends. We can study together and have fun together. Isn't that great? You can be friends with my current friends. They are loving and friendly!"

"They will hate me."

"No, they won't. They will like you as much as I do."

"Do you like me?"

"Of course, I do! I like all my friends!"

"You are Mikan, right? You are the top scorer of our cohort this year, am I right?"

"Y... Yes, b... b... but please don't hate me for taking away your first place. I need to do well for the sake of Dad."

"I don't mind at all. However, if you really want to be my friend, you have to do something for me."

"What is it?" the brunette asked while tilting her head to her side.

He finally smiled for his first time in elementary school and whispered into her ear, "Call me Natsume instead."

-:-:-:-

"Yuck! You are friends with Natsume Hyuuga-san?"

"Yup. That is why we are going to meet him for lunch today."

"Count us out. You can eat with him together yourself. Come to think of it, don't you think nerds should just hang around one another?"

Her friends laughed until one of them took out a pen and threw it at Mikan.

"Nerds will only live with a pen."

"Stop it! It hurts!"

"Hurts? Mikan Sakura, don't make us laugh. You are just looking down on us. So what if you are first in everything? That doesn't mean you can order us around."

"I was not ordering you or anything! I just want you to befriend Natsume, that's all."

"Shut up. Nerds don't talk back."

"Why? Why the all of you..."

"Because we hate you."

Within a flash, a fist was sent flying towards the brunette's direction and everything turned black right before her eyes.

-:-:-:-

"Don't be their friends anymore. They are obviously bullying you!" the young raven-haired boy said angrily and shook the injured brunette. "You are facing the same problem as I had last time! They will definitely sabotage you until you break down."

"Wh... What should I do now?"

"Leave them and stay with me."

-:-:-:-

"Mikan-chan, we're sorry about the last time we bashed you up. We aren't really thinking rationally at that time. Sorry for being too impulsive."

"It's okay! Let bygones be bygones. Everyone makes mistakes."

"So, we are actually thinking to make up with you and we have prepared it for you. Is that okay?"

"Seriously, it's okay! You don't have to prepare anything for me. I think just a handshake would be fine!"

"Oh, no. Just follow us and you will know what we have prepared for you, Mikan-chan."

"Alright."

And the girl followed them.

-:-:-:-

"Mikan! Are you all right? Hey!"

"Na... Natsume?" the girl groaned as her eyes fluttered opened.

"I told you before not to trust those people! They are not your friends! They tricked you!"

"But... But they said they wanted to make up with me so... so I believed them and followed them. Who knows, out of nowhere, big boys came out and... and..."

"Enough! You must ignore those people. They are not your friends at all," the small raven-haired boy said as he hugged the injured and crying brunette close to his chest. "Just stay with me and I will protect you from them, no matter what."

"Why? You don't have to go this far for me. I have not done anything for you either."

"You have already done a lot for me, Mikan. So now, it is my turn to help you too."

_Maybe because I think I have taken a liking for you, Mikan... _

_I will always will..._

-:-:-:-

The brunette stared at her result slip while her tears were running down from her eyes. She had lost her first place in school. She did worse than before and it was getting worse and worse.

"Sakura-san, how do you make yourself work hard?"

Those people were asking her that question again.

"Why do you work hard?"

Wasn't that obvious she had said that before?

"How did you parents feel about your results?"

How was she supposed to know about her father's feelings? Her mother did not say anything either. There was no compliment too. It was obvious that no one would compliment her because her results had declined drastically.

If her friends had not betrayed and bullied her, none of these happened.

"What did you think of yourself when you realised that you have received our scholarship?"

"Stupid..."

"S... S... Splendid?"

"I think you guys are weird for giving a stupid person like me a scholarship."

-:-:-:-

"Mikan, how are your results this time?"

"They are worse than the previous ones. I can't imagine myself studying in the lousiest Fifth Grade class when school reopens. People will make of me and Dad will ignore me forever. Natsume, tell me what to do now! I'm lost."

"But you aren't the worst! You will still definitely be in the top three classes! Let's just hope that the both of us will be in the same class."

"Geez! Stop sprouting nonsense! I wish I am a clever person like you."

"You are already clever. What more do you want?" the boy's dark red eyes stared into hers and smiled. "Mikan, clever or not, I will still want to be your friend. Maybe even best friend."

"Natsume... Thank you..." the girl sniffed. "You are always so good to me. I am so happy to have a great friend like you."

"Me too. I am lucky that I wasn't being stubborn on that fateful day and accepted your friend request. Thanks for reaching out to me. Without you, I think I would be still sitting under that tree alone by myself."

"Natsume, I should be saying that! I don't think I have helped you that much yet."

"Nope. To me, it means a lot."

"Why?"

"Because I had never thought I would take a special liking to you one day and I will never regret the fact that I do."

_I think I love her... _

_Maybe I am..._

-:-:-:-

"Ah! It's Mikan Sakura! Hey! Mikan!"

The young brunette paced away from her ex-friends but it was to no avail. They caught up with her and pushed her against the railings.

"Don't ignore us!"

"Wh... What is your problem again this time? I am asking you this question for the tenth time."

"I hate your guts and you are so calculative," a girl sneered and all of her friends started pulling the brunette's hair.

The victim shrieked, "For the fifteenth time, I say, stop it!"

"Shut up! If you start to learn how to keep quiet and be obedient, we will leave you alone!"

"Stay away from me!"

"Nobody like teacher's pets and nerds so just shut the hell up, Mikan Sakura!"

She had it. Her father did not even contact her at all even after so many attempts to impress him. Her friends left her and bullied her almost everyday.

_Nobody likes me..._

"Yes, nobody likes me. So what can you and I do?" the girl snapped and with two petite arms, she forcefully pushed and nudged her bullies.

"What are you going to do? What are you doing? Why are you climbing over the railing? You will die if you fall!"

The brunette rested her bottom on the edge of the thick metal railing and chuckled, "Yes, I will fall and show you my dying face in front of you! Tonight, I will haunt your blissful sleep and..."

"Go on! We dare to fall down from this school building and die. Ha! It's as if you would choose to die."

Everyone laughed. Their laughter echoed throughout the hallway and her eyes narrowed. They were extremely annoying.

"I will make you regret," the brunette growled. "I will slowly lean backwards at each passing second so please enjoy the show."

She leaned backwards slowly and her body went lower and lower.

_Do you think I am just putting on an act? _

_Nope. I am doing it for real, right in front of your faces... _

_Just sit back, relax and enjoy the free show..._

When her hands could not hold her weight any further, they just let go and she fell, anticipating the direct smash on her head.

Finally, she landed on her bottom with a thud. She opened her eyes and standing in front of her were the panic-stricken bullies.

_Did they die with me? Why am I still in the building? _

The bullies ran past Mikan and gathered around the railings. Curious, Mikan stood up and glanced down as well.

She gasped.

There was a lifeless and bloodied body lying at the ground floor!

That body should have been hers.

_But why?_

_Why must Natsume always be involved in this?_

He had sacrificed his life for her.

-:-:-:-

"Mikan, I can't walk anymore."

"I'm sorry."

"Your disobedience has nearly caused you your life."

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need friends anymore. Your only friend is me."

"Yes."

"Because of you, you have owed me your life. You have to stay next to me until I could stand up and walked again."

"Yes."

"Be it ten or twenty years later, as long as I am on a wheelchair, you are mine and not others. No other people can be your friend and you mustn't make friends too. This is for your own good."

"Yes."

"And that is my golden rule."

"Yes, Natsume."

-:-:-:-

Mikan opened her eyes abruptly and glanced around her bedroom. She had slept for hours since the time she came back home. She remembered that she had said nasty things to Natsume in the classroom and she began to feel regretful.

Natsume had helped her many times but she was too gullible and in the end, not only did she hurt herself, she had hurt him as well.

It was true that he had abused her before but even right till the end, he still protected her.

Her eyes watered again. She was sure that nobody would like her anymore, including Hotaru, Natsume and Ruka. She lied to them and even scolded Natsume.

She was also another typical selfish person who was just doing things on her own to benefit herself.

She buried her head on the pillow and cried bitterly.

'Ding! Dong!'

Mikan flinched and crawled out of bed. She walked towards the door and looked through the peephole.

It was him.

He had come for her despite how badly she treated him.

She could not hold back her tears any longer and quickly flung open the door. Without any greetings, she jumped forward and hugged him.

While burying her face on his chest, she cried out happily, "Natsume!"

* * *

**Yay! I can finally update today! But I am not too sure if I have the time to update more this week and next week. Crash courses are so terrible that I don't really have the time to update punctually. :(  
**

**Well, don't forget to review this chapter. :)**


	18. Chapter 18: Change

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 18: Change

"Yuka-san, you looked drained today. What happened to you?"

Yuka looked up and smiled wearily at her manager.

"Oh, I am feeling a little tired but it's okay," Yuka said.

"Is it about your daughter?"

Yuka hesitated for a moment before nodding her head slowly. After reading Mikan's diary, it seemed that her perception of Mikan had changed. Mikan was not as simple as she thought she would be. Furthermore, Mikan always seemed to be slow and dense but who knew the real Mikan was totally different?

"I can fail as a mother," Yuka muttered while trying to hold back her tears. "I still don't know what my daughter is thinking. What should I do?"

The manager looked at her worriedly and then replied in a gentle voice, "Your daughter is growing up. Try talking to her more and it might help you to understand her better. In fact, I don't know what was going on between you and your daughter but I think you should at least follow this advice. It might help."

"Thank you."

The manager gave a small smile and patted Yuka's back before walking away into the storage room. Yuka removed her apron and threw it into her locker. After packing up her stuff, she left her workplace and headed for home. She just hoped Mikan would be back early so she could talk to her even though she knew Mikan would be unhappy that her diary was being read by her.

She can only hope that everything would be fine afterwards.

-:-:-:-

"Natsume," Mikan said softly and her voice was muffled because her face was still buried on his chest. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't say all those words to you. It's my bad."

Natsume stood still and stroke her hair gently.

"It's okay," he whispered. "By the way, you must be hungry so I have bought you some food for lunch."

Mikan looked up at him and said with a weak smile, "Thank you, Natsume."

Natsume did not say anything. Neither did he make any facial expressions to show what type of emotions he was feeling right then. He lifted up a plastic bag and gave it to Mikan. After receiving it, Mikan opened the bag to see the contents. Of course, it was only a simple packed lunch from any stores out there on the streets. At least, it was better than nothing at all.

"Thank you again," she mumbled softly with a slight blush on her face. "Na... Natsume, do you want to come inside to take a seat?"

"Sure, thank you."

Mikan smiled and led him into her house, then into her living room. Both of them sat down next to each other on her sofa. Mikan noticed that his facial expression still did not change at all and she began to feel very bad for saying many bad things to him.

"I guess you are still mad at me. It can't be help then," she pretended to laugh and wiped her tears off her face.

"No, I'm not mad or anything. I was just reflecting about myself," Natsume said. "I always thought that I was helping you to move on without those useless friends who sabotaged you. However, I was wrong. I am too dominating and have hurt you as well. I am a selfish jerk who is so afraid that you may leave me for some people. I really love you, Mikan."

Mikan touched his trembling hands and stammered, "E... Enough... Don't continue..."

However, Natsume interrupted her, "After much thought, I have decided to let you go. Since you dislike me and will never return my feelings, I have also decided to let them go as well. You are my greatest friend but I have realised I have not done anything for you."

"Natsume, what are you driving at? You are confusing me."

"Mikan," he lowered his voice further as his tears began to form on the bottom of his eyelids. "Let's cut off ties with each other. I think that is all I can do for you. You live your own life and have as many friends as you like while I live my own life. Like this, you will be happy and just by seeing you like that, I will be happy as well."

Mikan was speechless and her hands dropped to her sides. Natsume stood up and bowed to her before leaving the house. She brought her knees to her chest and hugged the packed lunch tightly. She began to cry again. All she wanted was to call Natsume back but her voice was stuck at her throat, refusing to come out.

Natsume had changed.

Everyone had changed.

But did she change, even if a bit?

-:-:-:-

Yuka walked to her front gate and realised that the gate and door was left opened. The first thing that came into her mind was a burglary had taken place. She immediately rushed into her apartment and looked around. Everything was still the same. There was no mess or signs of rummaging. Feeling puzzled, she closed the door behind her and walked into her bedroom.

She opened her small cupboard to check if anything was missing but everything was still there. She pondered hard; thinking of the possibility that Mikan might be the one who left it opened when she came back home but Mikan would never do it. Even if she did, it would be surprising that she had come home earlier than usual.

Yuka stepped out of her room and entered into Mikan's room without knocking. There she saw Mikan staring at the computer screen, clicking and typing away.

"What are you doing, Mikan?" Yuka bellowed. "How dare you left the front door open like that? What if someone entered into our apartment and robbed us? Furthermore, you are alone in this house. Whatever happens, who will help you?"

"Hello Mum, you are back," Mikan greeted with her eyes glued to the computer screen. "I'm doing research for my science class. It seems like Misaki-sensei is going to teach us about chemical bonding in the next few lessons. Don't worry about leaving the front door open. No one would enter into our apartment because there is really nothing for them to steal. If they choose this house, I might say that they are really dumb and had no sense of logic in the poor heads of theirs."

Yuka frowned and chided, "Listen, Mikan. In any case, for your safety reason, please lock the front gate and door before entering into your house. Anyone could have kidnapped you too if you are not careful!"

Mikan stifled into laughter and finally looked at her mother with swollen red eyes.

"If they were to do that, I would say that they are pretty ignorant. What kind of ransom will they get for kidnapping me? We have nothing to give them. I think even a five-year-old child would know this," Mikan mocked and continued laughing.

"Mikan, I'm serious," Yuka warned and gave her a deadly glare.

Mikan stopped laughing and returned her eyes to the screen. She began clicking and reading the words on the site.

"Mikan Sakura, you are awfully clever," Yuka began. "You tried to lie to me and your friends. Why is that so? What are you thinking? I'm your mother and I should know what you are thinking."

"Shush! Don't be like Natsume Hyuuga! It is as if going on and on or beating around the bush would make me listen to you! It's annoying!" Mikan yelled at the screen. "So, what is your point?"

Taken back, Yuka remained silent and looked down. She was in a dilemma whether she should tell her that she knew the truth or pretended that she did not know a thing.

"I... I..."

"Hurry up. I want to concentrate in my research."

"I have read your diary and I know that you did not lose any of your memories and you purposely altered them," Yuka confessed.

"Oh, you have read it," Mikan muttered. "It doesn't matter to me if anyone knows about it. In fact, almost everyone knows about it, except for Natsume Hyuuga."

Yuka was becoming confused. Irritated by that, Yuka grabbed Mikan's shoulder and turned her body around to face her. With a great force, her palm flew across her daughter's face.

"Quit being cheeky!" Yuka shrieked.

Due to the heavy impact, Mikan's head hit against the plastic computer screen. Her hands immediately covered her bruise and rubbed it carefully. The computer toppled over and the mouse fell onto the ground.

'Click!'

"Po-tas-si-um chlo-ride. Potassium chloride," the speaker suddenly blasted.

The landing of the mouse must have pressed against the left click and coincidentally clicked onto the pronunciation of the words on the web page. The sudden noise startled Yuka at first but she did not allow it to end her tirade.

"Look at me when I am talking. It is manners," Yuka growled. "Mikan, look at me!"

Refusing to look up, Mikan mumbled softly, "I'm sorry for lying but it is for my sake. I don't want Natsume Hyuuga to torture me anymore. I want him to return back to his past self. He used to be different and it was my fault that he had changed."

"Look at me for goodness sake!" Yuka boomed and grabbed Mikan's face to look at her again.

Both pairs of eyes stared into one another silently until Yuka started to break into tears.

Mikan kept her eyes wide opened for so long that it began to sting in pain. Her eyes began to water too.

"Mum, please allow me to continue with my research," Mikan requested, as if nothing had happened. "There's a saying: let bygones be bygones. No use in dwelling on them. I have apologised to the people involved but I haven't told Natsume Hyuuga yet. Maybe I should do it next time, if possible."

Yuka's hand dropped to her sides and said softly, "I'm... I'm so sorry for slapping you. You could have told me the truth. Do you know how it feels to be lied at? As a mother, you would feel like a total loser. Worst of all, I don't even know what you are thinking or feeling. You always keep to yourself and I have no idea what was going on with you. I... I'm such a failure as a mother."

"I also hope that everyone would understand me but sometimes, things don't go according to what you want. They misunderstand the things that you did for them and such. It is pretty annoying and hurtful but you could only bear with it. Just bear with it in your heart and that's it," Mikan said while fixing up the computer again. "By the way, there is a packet of food in the kitchen. It was given by Natsume Hyuuga but I'm not hungry so you can have it."

Almost quickly, Yuka embraced her daughter and whispered, "Thank you. I really hope that you would understand how I feel and I hope that I will understand you better too."

Then, she let go of Mikan and headed out of the room. Mikan sighed and continued with her research on an ionic compound which she had began to take interest in.

It was potassium chloride.

* * *

**This compound will be the next 'significant' thing in the last part of this story, along side with Natsume and Mikan. Oh, and also our favourite creepy nurse, Narumi.**

**Are you curious about what is going to happen to Natsume and Mikan later?**


	19. Chapter 19: Stuck

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 19: Stuck

"Imai, aren't you going to look for Sakura?" Ruka asked Hotaru who was busying taking out her volleyball attire from her schoolbag.

"What do you think?" she challenged back without meeting his gaze. "I've volleyball practice now."

"I think we should talk to her," he suggested. "Sakura must be feeling bad now. I think I am skipping club practice today to see how she's doing."

Hotaru picked up her bag and spoke, "You seem worried for her. Before that, you tried to pin her down with your words and now you are worrying about her."

"I just wanted to clarify things with her, that's all. No harm intended," he retorted.

Hotaru sighed and walked out of the classroom. Ruka grabbed his schoolbag and walked after her.

"Nogi, do you think Mikan trust us?" Hotaru asked softly.

"I don't know," he mumbled while looking on the floor.

When Ruka walked towards the school gates, he realised that Hotaru was still next to him.

Feeling weird, he asked, "Why are you following me? Aren't you supposed to head to the gymnasium?"

Hotaru's thumb brushed against her nose roughly and said softly with a light blush on her face, "I want to see Mikan."

Ruka's eyes widened for a moment before they softened with a small smile on his face.

"Alright. This would be your first time ditching club practice. Your semi-finals are drawing near though," Ruka commented with a smirk.

Hotaru nudged his elbow irritability and snorted, "You should say this to yourself too."

-:-:-:-

Mikan switched off the computer and fell tiredly onto her bed. She held her science textbook up high and began to recite the chemical equations and the procedures over and over again.

"Add sodium nitrate into dilute hydrochloric acid using the titration method and gently shake the solution while doing so," she recited with her eyes closed. "Sodium chloride and dilute nitric acid will be the products of the reaction. It's so troublesome to obtain sodium chloride like that! Why can't I just put solid sodium into dilute hydrochloric acid and just boil the solution till crystallise? Who cares about whether it will explode or not? Argh! Oh yeah! I can add sodium hydroxide and I can just boil the solution!"

She threw the book aside and covered her face with her hands.

"What if I use potassium instead? Potassium nitrate, potassium hydroxide, potassium carbonate..."

"Mikan, are you hungry?" Yuka shouted from the living room. "You haven't eaten a thing yet."

"No, I'm not."

'Ding! Dong!'

Mikan immediately straightened up and gasped, "Natsume!"

She stumbled out of bed and hurried out of her room. She saw her mother walking towards the door and Mikan just ran past her. Instead of letting Yuka to open the door, Mikan opened it.

"Natsu..." she called out and paused with a very shock face after realising that it was not Natsume who rang the doorbell. "Hotaru? Ruka? Why are you here?"

Hotaru and Ruka looked at Mikan guiltily. Yuka finally caught up with Mikan and noticed the two children standing by the door looking uneasy.

Yuka opened the door slightly bigger and said politely, "Do you want to come in and take a seat?"

"They won't. I bet they are here to be like Natsume; rejecting me and cutting off ties with me," Mikan muttered softly and turned around to walk back into her house. "Nobody even likes me. I am just too selfish and sensitive. It's just fine that I..."

"No, we are here to say that we are sorry!" Hotaru interjected and barged into the house rudely.

She grabbed Mikan's shoulder and turned her around to allow her face to face hers. Taken aback, Mikan could only remain like a statue and was speechless. Ruka walked into the apartment and removed his shoes at the foyer before walking towards the girls.

"Sakura, in fact, we are not angry with you or anything. We are here to make up with you again."

Mikan looked at Ruka with wide and frightened eyes. She had heard that sentence before. A feeling of betrayal mounted within her. She stuttered a few inaudible noises as she shook her head lightly.

_Mikan-chan, we're sorry about the last time we bashed you up. We aren't really thinking rationally at that time. Sorry for being too impulsive. _

_So, we are actually thinking to make up with you and we have prepared it for you. Is that okay? _

_Oh, no. Just follow us and you will know what we have prepared for you, Mikan-chan._

Hotaru whispered to Mikan, "Mikan, he's right. We are here to say that we can still be friends no matter what. We have already forgiven you."

"Don't!" Mikan shrieked and flung Hotaru's hand aside. "Don't hurt me anymore! You will call those big boys out and bit me. I'm scared. I don't want to be hated. I want to have real friends..."

Mikan fell onto her knees and shivered continuously. She clutched onto her chest and breathed heavily. Her chest hurt a lot. All those hurtful feelings were trying to burst out from her chest. Yuka immediately bent down and soothed her back gently.

"I'm sure that they are different from those people. Your friends here understand you so why don't you listen to them?" Yuka spoke gently.

Mikan sobbed as she shook her head again. Ruka clenched his fists and stomped right in front of Mikan. Yuka and Hotaru looked at him questionably. All they saw his face was filled with sadness.

Ruka said to Yuka, "Ma'am, I'm sorry that I have to do this."

"Do... what?" Yuka queried while raising an eyebrow.

Ruka looked back at Mikan and held her face up, making both of their eyes staring at one another.

"Sakura, no matter who you are, I will always like you. In fact, I have liked you since a long time ago and I have never thought that I would confess to you. Seeing you like this really hurts me deeply," he confessed honestly and brought his face closer to hers.

Mikan was flabbergasted. She would never think that someone would like her, other than Natsume. Suddenly, she felt Ruka's lips on her forehead and she could feel her head became dizzier. Her face was heating up and her heart was pounding rapidly against her chest.

It was as if this little kiss was filling her with warmth.

Ruka let go of her and moved backwards. He wiped his lips and blushed profusely. Yuka and Hotaru just watched and gaped but it was obvious that Yuka's veins had popped out from under the skin of her forehead.

Her daughter was being kissed by a boy. Whose mother would be very happy about it? Well, at least he did apologise first.

"You are brave," Hotaru complimented Ruka with a surprise look. "Mikan, look at me and I will give you a great big hug!"

This time, Mikan flinched and quickly dodged away from Hotaru. Her face was flustered with embarrassment. Yuka smacked her own forehead and chuckled. Hotaru pouted and crossed her arms in an adorable manner.

Soon, everyone burst into laughter, including Mikan who hesitated at first but finally released her inner tension and laughed with them.

"Hey, Ruka."

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Thank you."

-:-:-:-

It was already past evening, Hotaru and Ruka had long left Mikan's house. After having dinner, Mikan lazily opened her science textbook again. Before that, her two friends had told her that Misaki would be conducting a science experiment with them. It was about ionic bonding. She was excited as having to use the science apparatuses was going to be her first time experience.

She flipped through the pages and tried memorising them before Misaki started picking on her again. Suddenly, her handphone rang. It was weird. Natsume had already cut off ties with her. It was also impossible for Hotaru and Ruka to call her too unless they had started to miss her after an hour later. The number looked dodgy as well so Mikan ignored it.

However, after five rings, the caller did not seem to give up at all. Irritated, Mikan picked the call up.

"Hello?" Mikan answered.

_"Are you Mikan Sakura?"_ an oddly familiar voice spoke.

"Yes, I am. Who are you? How did you get my number?"

There was a short laughter and the person continued, _"A question at a time, Mikan-chan. I am..."_

As if censoring his name, there was a noisy buzzing sound which made it hard for Mikan to hear his name properly.

"What did you just say your name is? I can't hear your voice just now."

_"I am..." _

Another buzzing sound took over again.

_"Mikan-chan, how are your friends? Did you all make up?" _

"They... We make up with one another... Wait, how did you know about them?" Mikan asked curiously and suspiciously.

_"Mikan-chan, of course I do know everything about you. That is because I am..." _

The buzzing sound happened again.

_"By the way, remember what I have told you. You are pathetic, even your friends lie to you. They want to make up with you is because they won't want to lose such a gullible and weak person to pick on. To them, you are just an ant. They either pity your small existence and make fun of you or just step on you to let you rot to death. My advice to you is to leave them as soon as possible." _

Mikan gritted her teeth and yelled, "You are sounding like Natsume! You can't order me around."

_"If not, you will experience the same thing as the last time. You will harm and hurt others because you are pulling them closer to you. You are the one who cause so much unhappiness to everyone. Please, Mikan. Please don't let others get involve in your life. You are just hurting them..." _

Then, the buzzing sound got louder and louder. Mikan dropped her handphone onto the floor. She wanted to cry once more but she could not. Her eyes were too dry from all the crying she had over the past few days.

She could only cup her ears and shivered uncontrollably.

* * *

**Who is the mysterious caller?**

**This story is coming to an end soon but there are quite a few more things that have yet to happen. So, what's next then?**


	20. Chapter 20: Potassium Chloride

**His Psychotic Love**

* * *

Chapter 20: Potassium Chloride

The following day, Mikan returned back to school. She seemed tired but had tried her best to look fine. The mysterious caller words echoed in her mind throughout the whole night, making her unable to sleep well. She could feel light greyish eye bags forming below her eyes. Letting out a soft yawn, her head dropped to her desk and rested on her arms.

"Good morning, Mikan!" Hotaru greeted enthusiastically as she sat down next to Mikan. "You look tired today. How come? Are you still worrying about yourself?"

Still resting her head on the table, Mikan shook her head. Hotaru looked at her worriedly and then back to her own bag. As she was about to take out her belongings, someone called her angrily.

"Imai, where were you yesterday? You skipped the practice, didn't you?"

Hotaru glanced up and saw her seniors standing with arms akimbo outside the classroom. Mikan was shocked by the sudden uproar and quickly sprang up. She noticed that Hotaru was biting her lips and her fingers were fidgeting. She felt bad. Hotaru was in deep trouble because of her.

"Sorry, I was not feeling well," Hotaru lied with a sheepish smile.

"Really? You cannot afford to go missing anymore. We must win this round and bring glory to our school," one of the seniors said and all of them left.

Hotaru heaved a sigh of relief and grinned at Mikan. Mikan could only stare at her and looked down apologetically in response.

Just then, Ruka walked into the class moodily. He threw his bag onto his desk and sat down on his chair with his arms crossed. He was frowning and murmuring something under his breath.

"Nogi, what's up?" Hotaru asked while trying to brighten the mood up.

Ruka looked at her and Mikan, and then sulked, "It's those Drama members. Just because I did not attend yesterday's activities for no valid reason, they wanted to punish me by giving me a leading role in 'The Little Mermaid'!"

Hotaru mused, "Wow! You should be happy that you are going to be the prince of that story."

"No, I'm not," Ruka snorted. "Do you know what role they are giving me?"

"No, I don't know."

"You will never believe it, Imai. You girls will laugh if I tell you!"

"Just say it! Time is ticking away, dude!" Hotaru said impatiently.

"I have to act as 'Ariel'! I am not a freaking girl! I would rather act as that stupid crab in the sea!"

Hotaru turned her face away and giggled behind his back. She could not imagine how he would look with two seashells covering his flat chest, a long green tail covering his hips to his legs and red long hair flying all over the place gracefully as shown in television commercials. It was already hilarious just by thinking about it, not to mention about seeing him in those.

"Imai, I can see that you are laughing!" Ruka accused. "It is not funny at all!"

Mikan lowered her head further. She felt regret that she had made Ruka suffer. If it weren't for her, Hotaru and Ruka would not...

Suddenly, the school bell rang and Mikan immediately faced the front as she saw Misaki walked into the classroom with the attendance list in his arm.

-:-:-:-

"Today's science lesson is going to be very interesting. You are going to do a simple experiment in your usual grouping arrangement," Misaki said as he set up the bunsen burner. "I will show you a demonstration before letting you try it yourselves. Pay close attention and please read the instructions on the given worksheet carefully. No playing with chemicals and ingesting them. Do you understand?"

"Yes!" everyone answered excitedly.

Then, Misaki demonstrated the procedures step by step. Mikan had already memorised them so she just took this as a revision. Misaki measured the volume of the dilute hydrochloric acid and surprisingly, dilute potassium hydroxide. Mikan expected him to use dilute sodium hydroxide instead since it was a common bench solution.

After Misaki had mixed the solution together, he pour the solution into an evaporating dish and boiled it until it crystallised before switching off the bunsen burner.

"When you see the solution began to be crystallised, switch off the fire and let it cool down. This is called crystallisation. So now, please start your experiment."

Everyone gathered into their groups and situated at their given bench locations. As usual, Mikan, Hotaru and Ruka were in the same group. They took out the apparatus needed for experiment and started on it. The first test they did was a failure because they turned off the fire a little too late and the compound started to decompose. However, Misaki was kind enough to let them try again. So, the second time they did was a success. White crystals did form in the dish.

"Hey, do you want to try something else?" Mikan asked Hotaru and Ruka enthusiastically.

Hotaru shrugged and asked, "Like what?"

"Of course, using the common bench chemicals for experiment," Mikan replied. "We can use sodium hydroxide to obtain sodium chloride crystals too. It's the same procedure. Then, we will use silver nitrate to experiment on the sodium chloride."

"Is that even allowed? Where are you going to get those two chemicals?" Ruka queried.

Mikan pointed at the common bench chemicals and answered, "Here they are. I'm sure Misaki-sensei won't mind. After all, I have researched on these reactions and they're not dangerous unless you try to ingest the chemicals."

Hotaru became very excited and chirped, "Oh yes! Since we still have a lot of time, we can try new stuffs!"

Ruka looked at the girls and sighed. He thought teachers had warned students not to do things on their own in the science lab and they should seek their permissions first.

"Hotaru, can you try to obtain sodium chloride? And Ruka, can you help her as well? I will measure the silver nitrate solution."

"Sure," the two said together and started on their work.

While Ruka and Hotaru were working on making sodium chloride, Mikan made sure they were not looking and instead of taking the silver nitrate solution, she took the dish of potassium chloride and scrapped it into a test tube. Then, she added distilled water and mixed it until all the particles dissolved.

She looked at the group mates and realised they were still too engrossed in their experiment so she finally took out the sliver nitrate and poured it into the cylinder for measurement.

"Natsume-kun! Your crystals are so pretty!" many students cooed loudly, startling Mikan.

Mikan turned to look at Natsume who looked very shy in his usual clique of friends. She remembered his words and became disheartened. She looked at the aqueous potassium chloride solution again and sighed.

She had purposefully planned something in her mind. She wanted to end all of their sufferings which were caused by her.

Just then, she saw Ruka walked to the basin to wash the cylinders and she joined him voluntarily.

While washing the apparatus, Mikan spoke softly, "Ruka, do you still remember about yesterday? You said that you..."

"I... I remember," Ruka interjected with a blush. "I really meant what I said."

"Thank you again."

"It's okay if you reject me. I'm not forcing it on you," he muttered, refusing to look at Mikan and continued the washing.

Mikan smiled and replied, "Actually, I only want to have a boyfriend when I enter into a high school in the future."

"Oh," Ruka said disappointedly.

"I don't think this will come true anymore."

"Wh... What do you mean?"

Mikan was stunned for a second but later relaxed and laughed sheepishly, "Nothing! I was just sprouting nonsense."

Then, Mikan returned to the bench to place the apparatus back. Ruka did the same too and helped Hotaru who was already boiling the solution.

-:-:-:-

Natsume's group had finished with their experiment and he volunteered to wash the apparatus up. As he walked past Hotaru's bench, he noticed something was not right at all. He took a look at the bench again. He noticed Ruka was next to Hotaru but Mikan was nowhere to be found.

Of course, he was worried. Whatever he had said the day before was because he felt so guilty for hurting her and decided to let her go. After washing the apparatus, he told Misaki that he would go to the lavatory.

When he stepped out of the science lab, he saw Mikan leaning against a pillar.

Curious, he walked towards her and called out, "Mikan, what are you doing?"

Mikan immediately turned around in fear but she did not say anything. Her mouth was shaking but no voice came out. Natsume ran towards her and he saw something frightening on her wrist.

There was a broken test tube pierced into her skin and she was bleeding profusely. White liquid from the test tube flowed out as well.

"Mikan, what is that liquid?" Natsume asked worriedly as he took that test tube out from her wrist.

"Po... Potas...sium chlo...ride," she stammered weakly.

His eyes widened and shouted, "Why did you do that for? I will take you to Misaki-sensei for help."

"No need. I chose to do it anyway," Mikan's voice softened and leaned against Natsume's shoulder. "Before the effect takes place, let me thank you first."

"What..."

"Thank you, Natsume. You are a great friend..."

Mikan paused abruptly. She clutched onto her chest and dropped onto the floor. Natsume screamed and immediately shouted for help. Mikan curled into a ball and gasped in pain. Natsume held onto her tightly with tears in his eyes.

Suddenly, Mikan stopped struggling. Everything became quiet. Natsume let go of her and shook her shoulders gently.

"Mikan? Mikan? Mikan!" he shouted and began shaking her vigorously.

Misaki ran out of the classroom and saw the two children at the corridor. He ran towards them and gasped when he saw Mikan. The rest of the classmates ran out to see what happened and some of them screamed and fainted. Hotaru and Ruka were among them and they were petrified when they saw this scene.

Misaki placed his finger over Mikan's nose and his eyes widened too. He smacked his forehead and stood up. He fished out his handphone and began calling somebody.

-:-:-:-

Narumi paced around the infirmary while holding onto a file. He flipped open to Mikan's record and smiled to himself. Then, he took out a red pen and put a cross over the page.

"Strike!"

* * *

**His Psychotic Love**

_He was crying for her. He refused to believe what he had just seen. He loved her despite how cruel he used to be. Her face was drained in colour but she had a small smile on it. He was so afraid. A world without her would be scary and lonely. Those friends were not important to him but to him, she was the one whom he treasured the most. As he saw a tear rolled down from in her left eye, he was very sure that this would be her very last tear from that day onwards. _

~Fin~

* * *

Questions of this story

(Answers may differ due to different perspectives.)

1. Which character has the greatest impact in this story? Why do you think so?

2. After reading the whole story, have your views about some characters changed? If yes, which character(s) has/have changed and why do you think so?

3. Do you think Ruka Nogi and Hotaru Imai were lying when they said that they had club activities?

4. Are Narumi's views about Ruka Nogi and Hotaru Imai reliable?

5. Depends on your answers in questions 3 and 4, have you ever wondered why whatever Narumi had said contradicts Ruka Nogi's and Hotaru Imai's actions?

6. Who do you think is the mysterious caller? Why do you think so?

7. What do you think happened to Mikan after this?

8. What does Narumi mean by saying "Strike!" at the end of Chapter 20?

9. Do you think Natsume really felt guilty for his past actions?

10. Who do you think has the greatest impact on Mikan's life? Why do you think so?


End file.
